COOPERATION HELPS CURB YOUTH CRIME

The answers juvenile delinquents gave to what they would do if someone attacked their brother has given Jim Davis hope he is doing something right.

Davis, director of the Cape Girardot Juvenile Detention Center, said a group of 22 of the center's teen-age residents first answered that they would retaliate. But after participating in Davis' program, they changed their minds.

"If I went after the kid who beat up my brother, I would end up right back here again," one youth said. He thought the best thing to do would be to talk to the assailant's parents, to police or the school principal.

It's this kind of reasoning that makes Davis think his program is working.

One thing the program tries to do is teach these youngsters so they don't keep coming back to the center, Davis said.

Davis pointed to a 12-year-old boy who committed a crime that he could be tried for as an adult under proposed new legislation.

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon wants judges to be able to certify juveniles as adults as part of his "Get Tough" plan.

Of the 12-year-old boy, Davis said, "You can probably tell that this is not a kid who could get better by being in jail."

Davis wants to exhaust every resource before a youngster is made to face adult charges.

In Missouri, judges can certify children 14 or older to face adult charges. But a judge would only consider such a decision if other measures by the Department of Youth Services and other agencies failed.

If a youngster becomes an adult in the eyes of the court, he no longer would be eligible to treatment as a juvenile.

Nixon said his get-tough plan, would provide consistency in dealing with juvenile offenses. Juvenile crimes committed in St. Louis or Kansas City would be dealt with similarly to how Cape Girardeau County would deal with them.

Cape Girardeau Division I Circuit Judge William Syler, who has handled juvenile cases the past two years, wants an intermediary system between the juvenile and adult systems.

When a 14-year-old is certified an adult, there's a good chance he would be given a probationary sentence, Syler said. But what happens if he commits the same crime while on probation?

"You can't put him back in the juvenile system," Syler said. "But I don't really think putting that person in a penitentiary is the answer."

Syler said he feels "like I'm only crafting a worse problem if I do that."

He advocates a boot camp or detention center that involves punishment and job training -- an intermediary program between the Department of Youth Services and the penitentiary.

Cape Girardeau County Juvenile Detention Officer Randy Rhodes thinks the judicial system has the power to get tough with young criminals.

"A judge has the power to get as tough as he wants," Rhodes said. "The laws appear to be there, but I think there isn't enough money to make sure juveniles receive the necessary treatment to keep from becoming repeat offenders."

What's happening, he said, is that youngsters are pushed out of detention homes, where they should be treated, before their program is over.

"In many cases," he said, "that just puts them right back where they started."

Davis said more money isn't always the best solution. Often cooperation with other agencies seeking solutions to problems is more effective.

Through the Community Caring Council, a project founded by State Rep. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau, Davis has helped steer troubled children away from crime more effectively.

The council, established in 1989, has more than 150 members representing more than 60 agencies and organizations. Some 13 Cape Girardeau County agencies meet monthly to target problems that require urgent attention.

Melissa Hensley, a community advocate with Kids Count In Missouri, said juvenile crime is up 23.5 percent in the county since 1990. But Hensley said the Community Caring Council is considered one of the state's most effective measures.

Hensley said the county is a leader in dealing with problems of the family and the child instead of just the child.

Davis said providing a formidable deterrent isn't always the most effective measure. That is because most 14-year-olds don't think of the consequences of their actions.

Almost all juvenile offenders say their mistake was getting caught, he said.

Both Rhodes and Davis think most youths who commit crimes won't repeat the same mistake if they understand their motive and the consequences of the crime.

Davis has seen cases where youngsters steal something to give to a friend.

"That kid has a need that he thinks will be taken care of with the theft," Davis said. "What we do is try to educate him and get him to understand the consequences of that one act."

Networking with various agencies through the Community Caring Council helped Davis and others solve another problem:

In one case a youngster wasn't going to school. Through the networking, the agencies learned the youngster missed school to take care of his sick mother. The woman's husband had left because he was afraid if he stayed she wouldn't qualify for disability.

"Once we got that straightened out, the kid went back to school, the father was back to help his wife, and a difficult situation was kept from getting worse," Davis said.

Those types of situations push youngsters to seek help outside the family, where they often get the wrong advice. he said.

When students drop out of school, their chances of getting into trouble increase, Davis said.

"If you drop out of school or get expelled for life, you're going to roam the streets," Davis said.

"One of the things we try to show kids who go through this program is how much education they need to make the kind of money they think they would like to make."