“There’s no such thing as a national standard,” said Jeffrey Butts of the Urban Institute. “Those measures don’t mean anything.” He and David Steinhart studied California youth corrections in 2002. They focused on California because it has locked up more juveniles than any other state. Butts estimates that in recent years, one in five confined juveniles nationwide lived in California. Continue reading Contra Costa Times – Ranch Strives to Put Boys on Right Track

But juvenile justice experts caution that simply expanding programs doesn’t ensure less crime. Jeffrey Butts, director of youth justice research for the Urban Institute in Washington, DC, says early intervention programs and services for at-risk youth can be enormously successful in preventing future crime. Studies have shown that for every dollar invested in prevention programs, the public saves $5 to $10 down the road, he says. Butts warns, however, that many of the programs aimed at at-risk youth are far less successful than they claim — to make themselves look good, program administrators often select only those kids who are least likely to commit crimes in the future. “The challenge is, once a service provider or program director has access to funds to run a program, it becomes in their self- interest to avoid the serious cases,” Butts says. “They want to tell you we served a thousand kids and only two were arrested.” Continue reading East Bay Express – Measure R: Antidote for Crime?

“You can trust that common sense will prevail with a 6-year-old,” said Jeffrey Butts, who heads the Program on Youth Justice at the Urban Institute in Washington. Continue reading St. Louis Post-Dispatch – Justice System is Tested When Accused Killer is 6

Jeffrey A. Butts, director of the Youth Justice Program at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., says a juvenile is a juvenile, a crime is a crime, regardless of gender. “If it’s important to do something for girls, why is that not important for boys? Relationships? It seems just as important that boys have strong relationships,” he said. “Boys may tolerate in-the-face techniques, but males may respond just as well to a compassionate approach.” Butts said the juvenile court system has already altered the way it approaches girls. “Willingness to arrest them and bring them to court has changed,” he said. “Twenty years ago, we were more paternalistic. That disparity, which was favorable to young women, has decreased. “Young women now are paying full freight for their crimes.” Continue reading Des Moines Register – Help Girls Differently, Advocates Say