Juvenile Detention Trap

The "Juvenile Detention Trap" article appeared in the New York Times on January 5, 2008 in the editorial section of the newspaper. The article discusses trouble in youth and how the punishments they receive are unjust, leading them toward an even worse future of crime and punishment. One way suggested in the article that can reduce the amount of adults who end up arrested for a second time is to send them to a community-based counseling and probation program instead of detention centers. This option however is hard to commit to since jail courts-which do the sentencing- are closed after 5pm and are not open on weekends. Therefore, police officers who arrest young people at those times usually have no option but to send them directly to detention until courts open. This process can take several days, which is outrageous since statistics show that once the young person does make it to court, two-thirds are labeled "low risk" and are released to their parents. This system is certainly corrupt and unfortunately is being dealt with too lightly. Only few places such as New York have begun to correct the system by diverting young offenders to community-based programs where they receive mental health and counseling services. New York's plan is a good thing since more than 80 percent of young men alone who are sentenced to detention facilities are arrested within the following three years.
*Do you belive all states should follow the plan of sending youth offenders to community-based centers?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/opinion/05sat4.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print