A change in strategies and a willingness to collaborate with
other agencies and individuals have gained the local Juvenile
Court a lot of kudos. A story on the cover of today's Viewpoint
section details how the court has shifted its focus from
detaining juveniles who commit delinquent acts to working with
others to try to prevent juveniles from entering the criminal
justice system, especially for minor infractions. How well that
goal can be accomplished will make a huge impact on reducing
crime in this community. Research shows that most crimes
committed by juveniles are minor. The more serious crimes are
committed by a smaller group of youngsters, who share similar
demographics and who are repeat offenders. Those shared
demographics include poverty, a lack of parental authority and
academic underachievement. Research also shows that once a child
enters the juvenile justice system, he or she is likely to begin
a downhill slide that bottoms out in an adult prison. That has
led to a trend nationally to use comm