The Berrien County Board of Commissioners is working with court officials to improve the juvenile justice system in the county. At a Thursday meeting, they heard from consultants who have been working on a strategic plan for the Berrien County Trial Court Family Division. Top of mind is the need for a new juvenile center to replace the current facility, built in 1974. Court Administrator Carrie Smietanka-Haney said a new center would solve multiple problems, although short term work is also needed.
“We know that a new juvenile center isn’t going to be built tomorrow,” Smietanka-Haney said. “It would obviously take some time, and so we still need to make sure that the current center is viable as we still have youth who are in the center.”
Family Division Administrator Elvin Gonzalez said staffing shortages are also causing the courts to send juveniles out of state to be housed.
“We just looked at the data yesterday,” Gonzalez said. “We are spending $8,300 a day to cover the cost of sending those kids to out of state placement. If you do that math, that’s over $3 million a year that we’re going to be spending to send kids to Utah, to Arizona, to Indiana for placement.”
Long term facilities planning for that new juvenile center will be a priority this year. The court is working with contractors to develop a plan while also seeking support for short term problems. They asked county commissioners to be part of the process. The court’s five-year strategic plan is now online for anyone to see.
