Blog: Wisconsin

A common misconception that befalls some stakeholders in the effort to increase targeted, effective treatment or placements for nonviolent juvenile offenders is that such treatment is not available outside of urban settings or larger cities.
The Village of Oconomowoc Lake, Wisconsin, pop. 595, proves that misconception may not hold true for much longer.
At a recent meeting of the Village’s Municipal Court officials, representatives of a substance abuse program described how substance abuse could be a far more effective deterrent for youths charged with drinking offenses or very minor drug offenses.
Currently, those youths are usually just given a fine, often paid by their parents, and nothing is done to curb the underlying drug or alcohol issues.
Instead, juveniles could be placed in an addiction and education and counseling class, a portion of which involves the family. This alternative meets the rubric for an effective intervention for juveniles: targeted, tailored treatment of underlying issues and familial involvement.

Juveniles slipping through the cracks and missing out on opportunities that could curb their delinquency plague every jurisdiction in the country. This cohort of juveniles is often most at risk for recidivism, giving Milwaukee officials good reason to attempt to nip the cycle in the bud.
Milwaukee’s police department, prosecutors, criminal justice officials, and even school and health and human service agency representatives are meeting up and sharing the information they have on a select number of juveniles in Milwaukee at highest risk for continued delinquency issues.
Sharing the information, the group hopes, will ensure that key data and underlying issues are not overlooked by any one of the agencies. Sometimes it’s the little things—such as information regarding a substance abuse issue known to the schools but not to the prosecutors—that can play a major role in curbing delinquency.