The documentation I found on Alachua County juveniles, local and
national trends, and the state of our children scared me. The
problem is bigger than whether we should hand the Sheriff more
money, or fund an improved recreational system. The problem affects
the very future of a significant number of our children, and what
we as a society are doing to themnot just the parents, but
our way of life, growth and building patterns, and school siting
and sizes.
1. Alachua County Juvenile violent offenses increased 51% in the last 5 years while delinquency charges increased 7.8%.
2. Juvenile (ages 10-17) Violent Felony Charges in Alachua County are double the rate (per teen population) of Leon County, a county we often compare ourselves to. Our rate is 66% higher than the state average, and noticeably higher than all five counties with the most violent referrals.
3. This last point is especially notable in light of the fact that Florida Juveniles rank
2nd in the nation in total Violent Crime,
1st for Aggravated Assault,
3rd for Forcible Rape, and
6th for Murder and Manslaughter.
The ratio of reported juvenile crime to the total juvenile population in Florida is three times higher than the national ratio for 1995.
Clearly, our current system is failing our children. The sheriff's budget consumes an ever-increasing percentage of our county's budget, and has since 1980. In fact, public safety takes 30 percent of Alachua County's budget as compared to a state-wide county average of 20 percent. We flat-line all other budget priorities to protect ourselves. This includes human services and recreation, two sources of help for our children.
Alachua County's schools are funded at the lowest level in the
state. Single-parent households and two-wage families contribute
to latchkey children, but we don't know how many exist in our
county. Elementary afterschool programs have waiting lists of
150 students. There are no middle school afterschool programs,
that critical age where unsupervised free time can lead to negative
behaviors, and children often have their first brush with the
law.
A 1997 statewide survey by the Florida State University School
of Criminology asked "Which strategies will reduce juvenile
crime?" The top four responses (out of 10 options) are:
1. More jobs for young people (83.4 percent)
2. Programs for pregnant teens (82.8 percent)
3. Role model programs (81 percent)
4. Prevention programs (75.2 percent)
Locking up more juvenile offenders and the death penalty for juveniles who murder were rejected by 53 percent and 63 percent of the responders as being an ineffective means to detour juvenile crime.
Alachua County's children are our most important natural resource.
Ultimately, all the conservation, all the roads, and all the jobs
will mean nothing to our county if we don't prepare our children
to become contributing, tax-paying members of our society. Our
jail system will continue to grow.
We need to face this issue as a community and move it to the forefront
of our many burning issues.
Our communities and county must do more to support the efforts
of our schools, recreation programs, and parents in supporting
youth.
My full report , including graphs, can be found on line at http://user.gru.net/alilaw (leave
out the "www")
Thank you,
Alison Law
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Alison Law is President of Sustainable Alachua County, and believes
that our actions today directly affect our communities' livability
tomorrow.