Local program for young offenders attracts notice

Other Nevada cities see merit of quick action when youths go astray

Boulder City's highly successful Juvenile Conference Committee that metes out sanctions to less-serious juvenile offenders -- the only such program in Nevada -- is expanding in Clark County, and possibly as far as the state's capital city.

"We're taking the show on the road," said Pat Spero, the JCC coordinator and Police Chief Tom Finn's secretary. "For years, we've been telling Laughlin and Mesquite they can do the same program."

Mesquite recently had a mock hearing to show how the process works and immediately decided to create its own JCC.

Spero is coordinating her expansion efforts with Kathleen Dickinson, the Mesquite JCC coordinator.

In addition to Mesquite, the cities of Laughlin and Carson City are both interested in how the program works and are considering creating their own committees, according to Spero.

"They're finally getting wise that the numbers are becoming too overwhelming," said Diane Pidsosny, coordinator of the Enforcement of Underage Drinking Law. "There's no time for that because we don't want kids to fall through the cracks."

Since 1993, the JCC locally has been holding citizen meetings to evaluate misdemeanors and status offenses committed by youths between the ages of 8 and 18. Status offenses are breaches of local ordinance, such as curfew violations, that don't even pertain to adults.

According to the JCC brochure available at the Police Department, "Status offenses and misdemeanor crimes committed by Boulder City youth simply do not get the attention needed in order to deter the behavior at its start."

"The judges like the program," Spero said. "We sit a half-hour or an hour with each kid and their parents when the judge may take five or six minutes at the most to evaluate the case and decide what to do. It's rare to get everybody, the judge, the police officer, the city attorney, in one place at the same time for such a minor offense."

So far, in 2008, 14 youths have been sent to the committee -- there are a total of 20 JCC members, but only four sit at a juvenile hearing -- compared to 30 kids in all of 2007.

"We put them in a situation so they get a learning experience," said Spero, "which gives us the ability to get creative with public service. There's not a rubber stamp for the program."

And the program has shown positive results over the years with a less than 1 percent repeat offense rate.

Pidsosny, who is joining Spero in her efforts to get the program adopted in places other than Boulder City, said the parent or guardian's participation is crucial to gaining good results because they can be there on a daily basis reinforcing the JCC's ruling.

"The parent component to this is very important," Pidsosny said. "The parent or guardian's appearance is mandatory at the hearing. We want them to know these are real consequences and an education for kids and not just a smack on the wrist."

Instead of a juvenile offender being sent to Municipal or Justice Court for breaking the law that will initiate a criminal record, the committee simply hears the case and imposes a sanction that keeps the youth's name out of court. Sanctions can include community service, letters of apology, counseling, writing essays, monetary restitutions and warnings.

Spero said 24 is the average number of cases heard in one year.

"If there was no JCC, the juvenile offender would have to go before Judge (Victor) Miller and establish a record," Spero said. "The real benefit with JCC is that there is no record. The child is given that benefit, but at the same time, they are made to realize it's a privilege."