No Hard Time For Those Crazy Kids

The New York Sun reports that [the Administration for Children’s Services will be launching a new program next month that will spare up to 380 juvenile delinquents from being shipped off to a private or state-run ][detention facility]. But not to worry, they won’t be roaming the streets with eggs and toilet paper or whatever new fandangled contraptions modern juvies use to wreak havoc; instead, they’ll be eligible to receive at-home guidance and supervision from social workers. Sweet. The city’s $11.5 million plan is an attempt to reduce the number of minors in confinement by targeting repeat offenders (there are so many underage loonies out there that the detention centers are getting pretty overcrowded—in 2005, the figure rose by 17 percent from the previous year). But the plan's hefty price tag isn’t quite as high as the $120 million the city pays each year to place kids in residential treatment facilities through the state's Office of Children and Family Services. It’s comforting to know that “actively psychotic children and sex offenders” will not be eligible candidates for the program. (http://flickr.com/photos/unfolded/)