Gaps in Services in the Juvenile Court

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile/four/marquese.html

            I stumbled upon this article today, and after our debate last week regarding the juvenile justice system, and whether or not youth should be tried as adults, I thought this article was fitting.  In this particular article, a seventeen-year-old boy who had seven juvenile felony convictions that were all related to theft, was given another chance in the juvenile court.  At the time of his latest offense, the boy was just two months away from his eighteenth birthday, and serious consideration was given as to whether to try him as an adult.

The boy had a very traumatic background, and has not had very many positive adult role models in his life.  He has done well with schoolwork and staying out of trouble when he has been in an institutional setting, but has essentially “fallen through the cracks” once he is released, and has shown a pattern of re-offending shortly after. 

The boy’s pattern of re-offending shortly after he is released really highlights the fact that there is likely a gap in services between when he is institutionalized, and when he is released.  It is concerning that youth such as this young man may not be receiving adequate services, and it seems very unfair to try these youth as adults if we are not providing the tools to help them get on the right track. It is unclear what services there are for young juveniles after they are released, but it is clear there is a need for more intensive services.