Costs:
CONNECTICUT HAS ALLOCATED OVER $158 MILLION TO JUVENILE JUSTICE FACILITIES IN THE PAST TWO YEARS
| Sample Capital and Development Costs | Sample Operating Costs |
$57 million - the amount to build the Connecticut Juvenile Training School, equipped with 240 beds.
$37,702,250 - the total cost for the construction of the Bridgeport Juvenile Matters Detention Center and Courthouse ($18.4 million was approved for the Detention Center alone).
$27,535,750- the total cost for the expansion of the Hartford Detention Center.
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$34.7 million - the annual operating and personnel budget for Long Lane School, Connecticut Juvenile Training School (CJTS), and Juvenile Parole Services.
$1.4 million - the operating funds appropriated for the Hartford Detention Center expansion.
$148,821 per youth - the average annual cost to keep one youth at Long Lane or CJTS (not including parole or educational services).
$18,421 per youth - the average annual cost to educate one youth at Long Lane or CJTS.
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Recommendations for Change:
Where To Start |
The Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance is working on solutions to decrease spending on jails and prisons and redistribute the funding towards positive youth development programming, truancy reduction programs, mental health counseling, and community-based services proven to decrease delinquency and reduce recidivism. To begin, the Alliance recommends Connecticut:
- Rethink the building of new secure juvenile detention and correctional facilities and reallocate the funding toward comprehensive community-based programs that provide positive alternatives for young people most at-risk of entering or re-entering the juvenile justice system.
- Produce a comprehensive juvenile justice plan in a timely fashion with input from all agencies and providers working with the juvenile justice population to streamline and enhance services.
- Develop more community-based behavioral health programs to reduce the overrepresentation of African-American and Latino/a youth in the system and to provide rehabilitative services for arrested girls who face a multitude of risk and problems in the community and at home.
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| In an environment of budget deficit and decreasing crime, Connecticut is spending exorbitant amounts of resources on youth jails and prisons. New detention center construction is doubling the state's detention bed capacity from 88 to 176, yet juvenile crime is decreasing. Where is the money being spent?
The Connecticut Juvenile Justice is a statewide collaborative effort to raise awareness of adjudicated and pre-adjudicated youth, to educate the public about the juvenile justice system, and to make public-policy recommendations to improve conditions and resources for the juvenile justice population. For more information, contact the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance at (203) 579-2727 ext. 307 or email us here.
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