Kan. juvenile inmates lack vocational training

A joint legislative committee recommended Tuesday expansion of vocational training for juveniles in state custody and action to prevent mixing violent and nonviolent offenders in community residential facilities.

Both ideas were wrapped into the final report of the House-Senate Corrections and Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee.

Rep. Pat Colloton, R-Leawood and chairwoman of the panel, said the document would express appreciation for Gov. Sam Brownback's decision to table a proposal to transfer some delinquency programs from JJA to the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.

JJA and SRS collaborate to determine the status of hundreds of children placed into state custody to either shield them from abuse or to protect the public.

"It doesn't make sense to split JJA into pieces," Colloton said.

Instead of seeking the 2012 Legislature's endorsement of the realignment, the two agencies formed a task force to study options.

Members of the interim committee raised objections in 2011 following a tour of Topeka's juvenile facility that boys were given greater vocational training opportunities than girls. In addition, the overall breadth of programming was thought to be weak.

"This committee's concern is we do equal programming for boys and girls," Colloton said.

She said obtaining a marketable skill was a key to decreasing recidivism among offenders.

JJA Commissioner Curtis Whitten told the committee that he was examining opportunities for girls to enroll in online automobile mechanics or welding courses.

Girls also are now allowed to participate in the Topeka facility's food service division, he said.

Dennis Casarona, deputy commissioner at JJA, said state officials were exploring opportunities to segregate violent offenders from nonviolent children within the statewide network of out-of-home placement facilities.

The issue surfaced when a Wichita provider contracting with the state placed sex offenders in an apartment complex along with children without that type of background.

"The main goal is youth safety," Casarona said.

The committee's members endorsed a $4.8 million request to finance reconstruction of a Kansas Department of Corrections program to assist adult prisoners' transition to society.

Members of the panel urged the corrections secretary to seek alternative, less-expensive housing for elderly or frail inmates.

Overcrowding forced the state to spend $1.5 million this year to house inmates in county jails, and there is a proposal to raise spending to $2.5 million. Overall costs might be trimmed if some prisoners were transferred to alternative settings.

"I'd rather do that than release prisoners early," said Rep. Jerry Henry, a Cummings Democrat on the joint committee.

Tim Carpenter can be reached at (785) 296-3005 or timothy.carpenter@cjonline.com. Read his blog at cjonline.com/blog/political-runoff.