Young Children in Alaska’s Juvenile Justice System

By Jill Saxton-Moody, MA, CDCII10/16/2015

AK DJJ Mission: • Hold juvenile offenders accountable for their behavior.• Promote the safety and restoration of victims and communities. • Assist offenders and their families in developing skills to prevent crime.

DJJ process

Facilities: • Bethel Youth Facility

• Fairbanks Youth Facility

• Johnson Youth Center

• Kenai Peninsula Youth

Facility

• Ketchikan Regional Youth

Facility

• Mat-Su Youth Facility

• McLaughlin Youth Center

• Nome Youth Facility

The concern:

What do we do when we have an 8 year old apprehended for

murder charges?

Region Office Younger than 10 10 - 12 13 - 14 15 - 17 18+ Total

ARO Anchorage 14  179  658  1,439  57  2,347 NRO Barrow 0  22  42  103  5  172

  Bethel 28  57  126  302  34  547   Fairbanks 4  28  155  500  32  719   Kotzebue 1  13  48  86  3  151   Nome 0  21  28  74  2  125

NRO Total 33  141  399  1,065  76  1,714

SCRO Dillingham 0  13  20  73  2  108

  Homer 0  8  26  79  6  119   Kenai 0  25  64  239   14  342   Kodiak 0  5  51  97  3  156   Mat-Su 2  20  145  359  40  566   Valdez 1  8  21  47   3  80

SCRO Total 3  79  327  894  68  1,371

SERO Juneau 1  18  103  222  5  349   Ketchikan 1  23  72  139  6  241   Petersburg 3  10  10  53  0  76

  Prince of Wales 0  1  22  33  1  57

  Sitka 0  2  21  53  4  80

SERO Total 5  54  228  500  16  803

State Total 55  453  1,612  3,898  217  6,235

Juvenile Age at Referral by region Fiscal Year 2004

Juvenile Age at Referral

  Younger than 10 10 - 12 13 - 14 15 - 17 18+ Total

Anchorage 5 115 284 865 40 1,309Barrow 2 23 50 44 4 123Bethel 9 28 42 145 9 233

Fairbanks 4 24 72 235 22 357Kotzebue 3 23 13 61 2 102Nome 12 35 47 80 7 181

NRO Total 30 133 224 565 44 996Dillingham   4 19 27 1 51Homer 2 1 11 31   45Kenai 1 8 36 136 2 183Kodiak 1 1 4 29 3 38Mat-Su 2 8 64 202 10 286Valdez   6 13 17 4 40

SCRO Total 6 28 147 442 20 643Juneau   19 30 132 5 186

Ketchikan 1 6 13 74 2 96POW   10 8 18 1 37Sitka     12 29 1 42

SERO Total 1 35 63 253 9 361

Statewide Total 42 311 718 2,125 113 3,309

 % of each Age Group 1% 9% 22% 64% 3%  

 

Juvenile Age at Referral

by region Fiscal Year 2014

Survey on Systemic or Recurring Maltreatment in Juvenile Correctional Facilities

“Definition: ‘Systemic or recurring maltreatment’ is identified when clear evidence has emerged from federal investigations, class-action lawsuits, orauthoritative reports written by reputable media outlets or respected public or private agencies showing that – at least at one particular point in time –state-funded youth corrections facilities displayed a systemic or recurring failure to protect confined youths from serious physical or psychologicalharm in the forms of violence from staff or other youths, sexual assaults, and/or excessive use of isolation or restraints.”

States with no systemic or recurring maltreatment in juvenile correctional

facilities:• Alaska• Minnesota• North Dakota

• Vermont• Wyoming

(Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2015).

Location

Delinquency Type

Data type

2004 - 2008

2006 - 2010

2008 - 2012

2010 - 2014

Alaska

Other % 25.7% 27.2% 26.7% 28.5%

Drug/Alcohol Laws

% 10.1% 9.6% 10.4% 12.0%

Crimes against

Property% 46.4% 45.3% 44.1% 42.9%

Crimes against Persons

% 17.9% NA 18.7% 16.7%

Kids Count Data Center. (2015). Retrieved from http://datacenter.kidscount.org.

Juvenile Delinquency Referrals by type of crime in AK

Trends to consider today • More youths with mental illness• More youths with substance use disorders• Continued high rates of FASDs • Now have a more whole-person and trauma-

informed care approach

Concerns with young children involved with DJJ • Early onset of delinquency (prior to 13) increases 2-3 fold

the likelihood of violent, chronic, and serious offending (Loeber & Farrington, 2000)

• Often DJJ involvement is the first involvement with any type of social services

(Loeber & Farrington, 2000)

What we are doing today • More referrals for outside services• More effective screenings and assessments • More services with mental health clinicians• Use of evidenced based-practices in

treatment and in care • More collaboration with OCS

Thank you.

My Contact Info:Jill Saxton-Moody, Mental Health Clinician IIIjillian.saxton-moody@alaska.govFairbanks Youth Facility1502 Wilbur Ave. Fairbanks, AK 99701(907) 451-2389

Resources• Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2015). State by state summary: Systemic or recurring

maltreatment in juvenile correction facilities. Retrieved from http://www.aecf.org/m/resourcedoc/aecf-statebystatemaltreatmentsummary-2015.pdf

• Kids Count Data Center. (2015). Alaska juvenile delinquency referrals by type of crime. Retrieved from http://datacenter.kidscount.org.

• Loeber, R. & Farrington, D. P. (2000). Young children who commit crime: Epidemiology, developmental origins, risk factors, early interventions, and policy implications. Development and Psychopathology, , pp 737-762.

• * Unless otherwise noted, all data and statistics obtained from the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, Department of Juvenile Justice http://dhss.alaska.gov/djj

State of AlaskaDept of Health & Social ServicesDivision of Juvenile Justice240 Main Street, Suite 701P.O. Box 110635Juneau, AK 99811-0635Email: Hss.djj@alaska.govTel: (907) 465-2212Fax: (907) 465-2333