Conn. Governor M. Jodi Rell criticized the Connecticut Juvenile Detention Center (CJTS) in Middletown for the high rate to cimmit crimes after release. On April 1, in a letter to the Department of Children & Families Commissioner Darlene Dunbar, Rell demanded that the Department draft a “feasibility plan” for its future, including an option to close the $57 million facility.
“I continue to be troubled that we still fail many of these young men, and, each day that passes in which we do not provide the interventions necessary for their success is another wasted day,” Rell wrote in her April 1 press release. In it she suggested that the DCF consider transferring the children to community-based homes.
The 240-bed center has faced problems since opening in the summer of 2001. The Middletown facility replaced the 129-year-old co-ed Long Lane School, which was outdated and poorly secured, leading to escapes and a suicide. The Long Lane School had been shut down by the state after problems arose, in particular the suicide of a 15-year-old girl who was being cared for by the center in 1998.
CJTS was supposed to act as a reform school, stressing rehabilitation-over-punishment, but critics have complained that it is more like a prison, Rell noted. A study conducted last year showed that more than 50-percent of the minors released from the center ran into trouble with the law within six months of their release.
“Incarceration alone does not create the meaningful change needed in the lives of these young men,” Rell said in her press release. “And the cost of failing to provide meaningful change in these lives is far too high, too high in terms of dollars, wasted lives, and defeated dreams.”
According to Rell, putting juvenile offenders in custody is pointless without focusing on their education and rehabilitation.
“The bottom line is that [the Governor] wants programs that will make real and lasting improvements in the lives of young people. She wants a long-term solution,” said Adam Liegeot, a spokesman for Governor Rell. He argued that Rell has the future of the children in the center as her top priority in this matter and wants to ensure that the state’s juvenile reform system has enduring success.
“[The Governor] made it clear in her letter to the Commissioner,” Liegeot said. “She wants a plan that will have lasting effects.”
While Middletown Mayor Dominque Thorton has no direct involvement in the CJTS since it is a state facility, she contends that Connecticut’s juvenile system is in need of major reform.
“It is [Middletown’s] position that there should instead be four, five, or six regional facilities closer to the homes of where the children came from,” Thornton said. “One large facility is ineffective in changing these children’s lives.”
Thornton said she is satisfied with Governor Rell’s suggestion to move the children into community-based homes, but she is worried about the future uses of the CJTS facility by the State of Connecticut.
“I’m concerned with what she plans to do with the Connecticut Juvenile Training School,” Thornton said. “An adult prison would be the most objectionable option.” Thornton said that she called Governor Rell to schedule a meeting about the future of the center, but she has not yet received a response.
Liegeot made it clear that Rell will be receptive to recommendations from many sources, not solely the DCF.
“The Governor is always open to ideas from local officials and always respects the mayor’s authority,” Liegot said. “She would like to hear the mayor’s suggestions for the future of the facility.”
Governor Rell set an August 1 deadline for submission of the DCF’s report.