Juvenile Indigent Defense in Crisis www.laccr.org
What Is LCCR? • Independent, 501(c)(3) nonprofit law office • Founded in 2006; contracted with the Louisiana Public Defender Board since 2012 to defend children in Orleans Parish Juvenile Court • Raise 50% of defense budget privately • In 2014, merged with the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, which became our policy advocacy and impact litigation arm. Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
How Bad Is the Crisis? “UNDER OUR CONSTITUTION, THE CONDITION TION OF BEING G A BOY DOES NOT OT JUSTIFY A KANGAROO COURT.” -- -- IN IN RE RE GAUL ULT , , 387 U.S .S. 1 ( . 1 (1967) 7) Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
Districts Facing Insolvency in FY 2016 – Based on FY 2015 Budget and Prior to Any Cuts Districts Projecting Insolvency in FY 2016 17, 40% Districts Projecting 25, 60% Solvency Through FY 2016 Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
Districts Currently Restricting Services • 30 th Judicial District – Denying public defender counsel to all new juvenile cases • 28 th Judicial District • Denying counsel in status offender (“FINS”) cases • Denying counsel in juvenile misdemeanor cases • Denying counsel in all other juvenile delinquency cases unless the child is incarcerated or the case is considered “serious.” – What’s going to happen elsewhere? Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
Districts Projecting Inadequate Funds for Current Level of Service Maintenance in 2015 • 1 st JDC (Caddo Parish) • 19 th JDC (East Baton Rouge Parish) • 26 th JDC (Bossier/Webster) – 1,870 juvenile cases • 41 st JDC Juvenile Defender (LCCR, Orleans Parish) Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
Why Should We Care? “UNDER OUR CONSTITUTION, THE CONDITION TION OF BEING G A BOY DOES NOT OT JUSTIFY A KANGAROO COURT.” -- -- IN IN RE RE GAUL ULT , , 387 U.S .S. 1 ( . 1 (1967) 7) Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
Why Should We Care? • Fairness • Innocence protection • Safety and health of youth • Timely case processing • Youth buy-in • Therapeutic value of advocacy • Connection to the right services and supports • Constitutional and statutory right • And… Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
We Can Make This Simple. $ Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
What Do You Want to Pay For? Cost Per Day of Incarceration Versus Cost of Juvenile Defense $424 $450 $400 $350 $295 $300 $250 $180 $200 $153 $150 $100 $50 $0 Secure Custody Detention (per Average Cost PER Nonsecure (per day) day) CASE of Juvenile Custody (per day) Defense Today Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
What If… • Continued custody hearings don’t happen? • Trials and sentencings are indefinitely delayed? • Revocation hearings are put on hold? • There are no parole hearings? Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
Costs of Eliminating Parole • In 2013, OJJ paroled 150 youth from secure custody. These youth spent an average of 225 days on parole, at a cost of $10/day • Secure custody costs $424, according to the legislative auditor • Supervising these youth on parole instead of in secure facilities saves the state millions each year: • 150 youth x 225 days = 33,750 total bed days saved through parole supervision • 33,750 bed days x $424 per day = $14.3 million that would have been spent on secure care • Subtracting $330,750 for the cost of supervision, parole saved the state $13.97 million in 2013 Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
Detention Costs and Overflow: The Example of the Youth Study Center in New Orleans • If the allocation to Orleans Parish is cut by $86,700, it will end up costing the city nearly half a million dollars, and will result in potentially unconstitutional conditions in the detention center due to overcrowding • We only have 40 beds • ~ 27 admissions per month – if ¼ of those kids sit because they don’t have a lawyer, population will rise by more than 6 youth per month • If restrictions start in July, we could be full by September • The carrying cost of 18 youth awaiting trial to the City of New Orleans, from October through December, is 92 x 18 x 295 = $488,520 Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
Can We Afford It? “UNDER OUR CONSTITUTION, THE CONDITION TION OF BEING G A BOY DOES NOT OT JUSTIFY A KANGAROO COURT.” -- -- IN IN RE RE GAUL ULT , , 387 U.S .S. 1 ( . 1 (1967) 7) Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
What Do You Want to Pay For? Cost Per Day of Incarceration Versus Cost of Juvenile Defense $424 $450 $400 $350 $295 $300 $250 $180 $200 $153 $150 $100 $50 $0 Secure Custody Detention (per Average Cost PER Nonsecure (per day) day) CASE of Juvenile Custody (per day) Defense Today Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
Actually, We Can Afford Much More than $180/Case for Juvenile Justice Advocacy… Cost Per Case – CY 2013 $2,500 $2,189 $2,000 $1,500 $1,038 $1,000 $500 $180 $0 CASA Advocacy Child in Need of Care Juvenile Public Advocacy -- MHAS Defense Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
What Can You Buy for $180? $179.99 $179.99 $179.99 KitchenAid Stand Polaroid Instant T-Fal Optigrill Mixer Camera Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
What Can’t You Buy for $180? • Reimbursement for a drive from Shreveport to Bridge City, LA to visit a client – 668 miles round trip x $.51 = $341 Psychologist evaluation for mentally ill child • – $200/hour x 3 hours = $600 • One night in juvenile detention – $295/night in Jefferson Parish • … and the services of any private lawyer, anywhere Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
An Investment In Counsel Can Save Money… • LCCR’s Second Chances Project – Represented 81 youth from St. Tammany and Jefferson in CY 2014; 28 were released – 270 months in secure custody were saved – 293 days per youth – $3,482,100 in savings – on an investment of about $120,000 in counsel – ROI: About 29,000% – 1-year recidivism rate: 3.5% Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
Joshua Perry Executive Director (504) 207-4597 jperry@laccr.org LOUISIANA CENTER FOR CHILDREN’S RIGHTS WWW.LACCR.ORG WWW.JUVENILEDEFENDERS.ORG
Recommend
More recommend
