November 19, 2005


SC County Board of Supervisors approve $3.2 million
for program enhancements at Ranch facilities

By Supervisor Pete McHugh
Special to the Times

On Nov. 1, my colleagues and I approved a three-year spending plan to enhance the County’s Juvenile Ranch programs. The plan will use $3.2 million in the first year and $2.8 million the following two years.

We made this decision because we strongly believe that an investment in our County’s high-risk youth is vital to their future success. The Probation Department believes that these enhancements will increase the success rate of youth who complete the program and reduce youth recidivism.

The three-year commitment will give my colleagues and me the opportunity to monitor the progress of the program and to determine its viability. If found viable, the board will determine the ongoing funding necessary to continue the program. We hope that this investment will prove successful and benefit the youth who enter into our juvenile detention system.

Currently, only 59 percent of the youth successfully complete their detention program at either the James Ranch or Muriel Wright Center. The County aims to raise this level to 90 percent.

The new program will focus on three main elements to achieve greater success. The first element will revamp the initial assessment to properly determine each youth’s risks and needs. The second element will decrease the staff-to-minor ratio for more individualized and group counseling sessions.

The third element will incorporate a new cognitive-based behavior management program. This enhancement is modeled after programs in Missouri that reduced the number of juveniles who re-offend to just 8 percent.

The cornerstone of the new program is the shift to cognitive-based behavior management. This program allows staff to get to know the youth on a more individual basis. Staff can use this knowledge to identify and replace pro-criminal thinking and behaviors with those that are pro-social and more positive.

The goal of this strategy is to decrease rule violations and criminal behaviors at the ranches by increasing impulse control and problem-solving skills. The youth can use these skills to avoid a re-offense and re-admission into our correctional institutions.

The new program will also provide a more balanced holistic approach that stresses accountability, rehabilitation and responsibility. The parents and family will play a more active role and will assist in the development of a transition plan.

This plan will identify aftercare service needs and facilitate successful re-unification with the family. The program will also include intensive supervision, family counseling and home visits, as well as a six-month Community Based Aftercare program following release.

Of the $3.2 million the Department plans to spend this year, $425,425 will go toward one-time costs. These items include $114,425 for staff training and cognitive behavior programming, $50,000 for equipment and furnishings, $160,000 for transition program services and $100,000 for capital program study.

Approximately $2.8 million will fund 25 additional fulltime equivalent positions to help decrease staff to youth ratios at the ranches. Since the program will begin in the middle of the fiscal year, $1.34 million will go toward staffing. The department will use the remaining $1.46 million to reconstruct the living area at the James Ranch. Staff anticipates fully implementing the enhanced Ranch Program by January 2007.

I believe that the board must continue to invest in our youth. We must continue to fund programs that will help our high-risk youth rebuild their lives and instill values that will prevent a re-offense.

All of our youth deserve a chance to learn the skills necessary to become responsible and productive citizens. I am confident that this new program will give them that chance.