Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin today announced a joint effort to review
the state's juvenile justice system.
The governor was joined Wednesday with justices of the West
Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, members of the West Virginia Legislature and
representatives of Pew Charitable Trusts (Pew) for the announcement.
Governor Tomblin is one one of several state leaders to sign the
agreement. It will allow Pew Charitable Trust to review and outline what needs
to done to reduce the rate of recidivism.
"While much of our initial justice reinvestment efforts
have focused on addressing our adult corrections system, we must also make
every effort to better meet the needs of our youth and prevent them from ever
entering our prison system," Gov. Tomblin said. "As we continue to
put emphasis on reforming West Virginia's justice system, we must also move
toward a more effective approach for juveniles - one that embraces
community-based treatment and tells our children we care about them and their
future."
Governor Tomblin believes there is a need to have more community
based programs with adult supervision. One of things is to make sure they're
attending school once they've been released.
"Through our justice reinvestment efforts, we've learned
data-driven and research-based programs can be successful," Gov. Tomblin
said. "By bringing together those in the community and working with
experts like Pew, we can work together to identify best practices that have
been proven effective in other states to better serve our young people and
prepare them to become contributing members of our communities."
The governor plans to establish the West Virginia
Intergovernmental Task Force on Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare. The task
force will bring together a cooperation of leaders from all branches of
government to review current date trends, evaluate the use of evidence-based
programs in West Virginia
"So many times when they're released from a juvenile
facility, they go right back to the same environment, they go back to the same
group of people and end up recommitting the same crimes again and end up back
in the juvenile system," Tomblin said.
