Pubdate: Thu, 07 Mar 2002
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2002 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.oklahoman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318
Author: Carrie Pagley
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

JUVENILE ARRESTS DOWN IN COUNTY

Vital: Study Targets Needs

Juvenile arrests for serious offenses in Oklahoma County are taking a dive, 
according to the 2002 Vital Signs Community Indicators report. Serious 
offenses include rape, murder, larceny and aggravated assault.

Following the national and statewide trend, juvenile arrests for serious or 
violent offenses in the county dropped from about 4,200 in 1995 to half 
that number in 2000.

"That's exactly the kind of slope we want to see," said Community Council 
board president Craig Knutson.

Vital Signs, a compilation of statistics and a survey of 1,200 county 
households, was released by the Community Council of Central Oklahoma last 
week. The seventh annual report illustrates trends in five quality-of-life 
areas: economic well-being, educational achievement, health, safety and 
civic participation.

The research is used by community leaders and organizations in addressing 
areas of need.

Youth advocates say the decline in juvenile crime should not make the 
community lax about supporting and funding intervention and prevention 
programs.

Ken Young, director of Youth Services of Oklahoma County Inc., said the 
decline is encouraging to organizations like his that deal in intervention 
and prevention programs for young people.

It likely is due to two major reasons -- economic well-being and community 
involvement, Young said.

"When the country is at work, there is less crime. When there is plenty of 
work and people have jobs, they don't have to resort to crime," he said. 
"Families get along better when they are working."

Young said many local organizations work to keep young people off the 
street and discourage juveniles who are arrested from being arrested again.

"There's a recognition in our country that we've got to take care of our 
kids," he said.

Anne Roberts, executive director of the Oklahoma Institute for Child 
Advocacy, agreed with Young that the good economic times the state and 
country have experienced in recent years probably have lead to a decrease 
in serious juvenile crime.

But Roberts worries that the high number of methamphetamine labs in the 
state will lead to increased problems for young people in the future. 
Oklahoma is ranked third in the nation for methamphetamine lab seizures, 
with more than 1,000 last year.

Roberts said she fears that as children grow up in meth-producing homes 
where parents neglect or abuse them, they will become abusive or 
crime-prone themselves -- which could lead to a resurgence in juvenile crime.

"I'm getting concerned about this," she said. "Abuse is one of the 
forerunners of later crimes."

Roberts said the key is for community organizations to remain involved and 
continue providing prevention and intervention programs despite the 
apparent success.

Funding from some prevention programs comes from grants offered by 
organizations like the Oklahoma City Community Foundation.

Sam Bowman, a program officer for the foundation, said about $70,000 is 
administered each year as part of the After School Options grant program. 
The grants go to programs that keep youth involved in productive activities 
when they are not in school.

"A lot of what we try to do with these grants is to leverage other money 
for the programs," Bowman said.

He said the money from grants and other sources can help programs that rely 
heavily on volunteers to become more consistent and expand services by 
paying some employees.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager