NCJ Number
204563
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 66 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2004 Pages: 24-26
Date Published
February 2004
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article describes the juvenile correctional system of Montana and the services it offers in an essentially rural State with a large land area, small population, and low income and tax base.
Abstract
Montana's Juvenile Corrections Division is responsible for all State-operated, long-term youth correctional facilities, Pine Hills Youth Correctional Facility for males in Miles City and Riverside Youth Correctional Facility for females in Boulder. The Juvenile Community Corrections Bureau consists of parole services for youths released from State-operated secure-care facilities, separate youth transition centers for males and females, specialized foster care services, mentor services, faith-based and health-based services, interstate compact services for probation and parole in and out of State, juvenile detention licensing, monitoring and funding for State district probation placements, and statistics and training for the Juvenile Corrections Division. Most juveniles placed in a juvenile correctional facility have been adjudicated for an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult. The court may not place an adjudicated youth in a State correctional facility for an offense that would be a misdemeanor if committed by an adult, unless the youth committed four or more such offenses during the prior 12 months. Most of the youths in the correctional facilities are from the more populated areas of the State, but services and resources are sufficiently flexible and diverse to benefit a wide range of juvenile offenders returning to a wide range of locations. Under the Federal National Reentry Initiative, the State has received funding for more specialized foster homes for difficult-to-place youths after they leave secure correctional facilities. "Foster" parents are recruited and trained specifically to manage and guide such offenders. The lack of a comprehensive, relational automated data system is one of the major challenges facing the Juvenile Corrections Division. The Division and the Department of Corrections Information Technology Bureau have considered several options for such an automated system and are moving forward to obtain a system; however, completing a gap analysis and resulting code change will require more than a year to complete.