Arizona State and Local Government Documents Collection

The Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections remains committed to providing public safety, protecting victims and changing the delinquent behaviors of the juvenile offenders committed to them. The Department continues to strive to provide a safe and secure environment for staff and youth. Safety is essential to providing education, treatment and rehabilitation to the youth in our care; who will eventually return to our communities.

The Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections is responsible for juveniles adjudicated delinquent and committed by the juvenile courts. The department is accountable to the citizens of Arizona for the promotion of public safety through the management of the state's secure juvenile facilities and it provides services to juvenile offenders including rehabilitation, treatment and education. Arizona law requires that ADJC accomplish its mission by providing supervision, rehabilitation, treatment and education to the juveniles committed to its care.

Education decisions are among the most important choices people ever make. So we were surprised and disappointed to see an article so loosely reasoned and reckless in its conclusions as “Five Reasons to Skip College” published in Blank Slate at Forbes.com on April 18, 2006. The article never provides a numerical assessment of the costs and benefits of going to college, uses statistics inappropriately and in a way that biases the conclusions against college, contains conceptual errors on how to evaluate the return on a college education, and greatly exaggerates the only substantive criticism of typical evaluations of the financial worth of a college degree.

The Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections New Commitment Profile is a study of the juveniles committed to Arizona’s juvenile corrections system throughout a Fiscal Year. This report, prepared by the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections Research and Development Section, presents statistical information about the demographic, commitment offenses, needs assessments, and other related details for the relevant juveniles. This report is a compilation of the collection and analysis of data from Arizona juvenile court commitment orders, ADJC’s juvenile database, YouthBase, as well as other files maintained by the Research and Development Section.

The state government general fund shortfall in the current fiscal year is projected to be between about $550 million and $1 billion. This shortfall will need to be eliminated through spending cuts and/or revenue enhancements. The Legislature has demonstrated a preference for spending cuts. However demand does not decline during a recession for most public-sector services, including university services. Any reduction in funding for universities will have a negative and direct effect. A reduction in state government spending for universities of around $200 million would cause direct and indirect job losses of approximately 4,000. A substantial decrease in state government funding for universities will have negative consequences beyond these short-term effects.

Assaults within correctional facilities can cause major problems. Assaults can disrupt the operation of correctional programming efforts and create an environment of fear and intimidation. They can result in serious injuries requiring transportation of staff or juveniles to a hospital. The purpose of this report is to 1) provide the Director and the committee with background data on assaults within ADJC, 2) provide the Director and the committee with an overview of requirements contained in the existing ADJC procedure(s) and information on how some ADJC staff report they are complying with those requirements, and 3) provide the Director and committee with background on three recommendations designed to address the assault dilemma within ADJC.

On October 13, 2000 the Research and Development Section submitted a report entitled Commitments/Releases from ADJC Secure Custody by Race to the Minority Over Representation Group. At the June 20, 2002 Group meeting a request was made to update certain items of interest contained in the original report. This updated report includes the items of interest specified by the Group and it provides a simple yet dynamic picture of this important issue by displaying data for 2000, 2001 and 2002.

According to official reports, juvenile crime in Arizona has declined. In fact, the number of juvenile arrests has declined by 27.5%, and the percentage of crimes cleared by the arrest of a juvenile has also declined. The decline in juvenile crime was greater in Arizona than it was nationally, or in other western states. Director Michael Branham asked the Research and Development Division to examine the decline and research why it has occurred. In addition, Representative John Huppenthal of the Arizona House of
Representatives and Mr. Richard Stavneak, of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee requested research on how charter school enrollments may have contributed to the decline. The purpose of this report is to present the results of a study designed to gain a better understanding of the recent decline in Arizona juvenile crime.

The Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections has put together this handbook for you, the Parents/Legal Guardians of a youth who has been adjudicated by the courts to ADJC. This Family Handbook will help answer questions you might have concerning your child’s stay with ADJC and provide you with names and numbers of staff to contact should you have questions.

The Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections has put together this handbook for you, the Parents/Legal Guardians of a youth who has been adjudicated by the courts to ADJC. This Family Handbook will help answer questions you might have concerning your child’s stay with ADJC and provide you with names and numbers of staff to contact should you have questions.