Luzerne County Judges

LUZERNE COUNTY

October 11, 2009

Juvie cost falling on new policy

Spending on juvenile incarcerations expected to be $11.8M less than during tenure of judges now under indictment.

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
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Four million dollars.

That’s what Luzerne County expects to spend lodging juvenile offenders in detention and treatment facilities next year.

To put it in perspective, that’s $11,823,151 less than the county spent on juvenile placements in 2004, county records show.

County officials say that reduction is a direct result of county Court of Common Pleas Judge David Lupas’ placement of fewer juvenile offenders in outside facilities and the county’s extraction from a $58 million juvenile detention center lease.

“It’s amazing. Since Judge Lupas has taken over juvenile court, placements have gone down remarkably,” said county Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla.

“We don’t see any recidivism from it, so obviously Judge Lupas’ new attempt at giving juveniles different types of punishment is working,” she said.

Lupas, who could not be reached for comment Friday, assumed juvenile court duties in May 2008 when former judge Mark Ciavarella stepped down from that assignment.

Ciavarella and former judge Michael Conahan are accused of receiving $2.8 million in improper payments in exchange for actions that benefited two privately owned juvenile detention centers. The men had already pleaded guilty to accepting the money. A federal indictment was filed after the former judges withdrew their guilty pleas on Aug. 24.

The detention facilities involved in the charges were owned by PA Child Care.

Commissioners officially ended the $58 million lease of the Pittston Township PA Child Care facility at the end of June 2008, after a state audit concluded that the lease was a bad deal for taxpayers. The county still sends youth to the facility on an as-needed basis for detention.

“Now we’re only paying for the beds we need,” Petrilla said. “Obviously the county is saving a lot of money.”

County minority Commissioner Stephen A. Urban said the $4 million speaks volumes.

“It makes me question whether all these kids that were put in detention and treatment centers needed to be put there,” Urban said. “This figure says our needs are real low, they’re down considerably.”

Ciavarella has maintained that he never improperly incarcerated a juvenile.

The county’s juvenile placement budget started growing around 2001.

Gene Klein, a former county chief clerk/administrator who also oversaw budget preparation, said juvenile placements had been budgeted at a flat $3 million for several years until they ballooned to about $6 million in 2001.

Conahan became president judge in December 2001, and Ciavarella handled juvenile proceedings.

By 2002, spending on juvenile placements had increased to $8 million.

Conahan sent a staffer to the October 2002 budget hearings to request $10 million for placements.

Commissioners gave $8 million, but they were later forced to up it $2.25 million when the courts kept submitting bills beyond the budgeted amount, including some for the PA Child Care Center.

Former court administrator Bill Sharkey, who is currently awaiting sentencing on theft charges in connection with the federal corruption probe, sent a memo to county officials at the time saying the bill must be paid.

“Judicial decisions cannot be based upon the information you present. This matter is the financial responsibility of the county of Luzerne,” Sharkey wrote.

The placement tab continued to grow, county records show.

The county budgeted $12.75 million in 2004, but actual spending rang in at $15.8 million.

Commissioners budgeted $12 million in 2005. The actual expenditures: $13.2 million.

They budgeted $12 million again in 2006 and 2007, and the courts stayed within budget both years.

Juvenile placements started noticeably declining in 2008, after Lupas took over. The county budgeted $9.59 million, and $7.7 million was spent.

The placements budget was cut further this year, to $6.5 million.

As of Friday, $2.6 million had been spent, said county Budget/Finance Chief Tom Pribula.

The state reimburses the county for some juvenile detention and placement costs, but county taxpayers must foot a portion of the bill, said county Budget/Finance Chief Tom Pribula. Taxpayers have also argued that state reimbursement still comes from tax dollars.

The county has received about $1.7 million in reimbursement for placement costs this year to date.

State welfare officials have been encouraging county courts to use more in-home or community-based programs that have proven results.

Lupas has said that sending juvenile offenders to out-of-home placement will be a last resort.

While some juveniles will need the specialized programs offered by outside facilities, Lupas said he has a legal obligation to impose the least restrictive option that fits each case.

It’s a stark difference from Ciavarella, who often ordered out-of-home placements and was accused of making decisions without accepting input from behavioral experts.

Ciavarella ordered as many as 1,556 delinquency placements per year while presiding over juvenile court in recent years, according to a Times Leader analysis of placement statistics.

These placements were in a menu of more than 50 alternative treatment facilities, group homes, detention centers and both high security and less restrictive residential facilities.

County Probation Chief Michael Vecchio said this week that the county currently has about 65 juvenile offenders in placement, including roughly eight in detention.

Jennifer Learn-Andes, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 831-7333.

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