Missouri has one of the lowest juvenile recidivism rates in the country. This year, "370 of the juveniles who went through the Division of Youth Services graduated from high school this year compared to just 40 children when the program began in earnest in 1983, according to state officials."
Further, the adult prison population in Missouri, while not shrinking, is not growing at the same rate as the nation as a whole. Three planned prisons were not needed as a result of this, and the administrators of the adult criminal justice system attribute that directly to the Missouri Model created and implemented in the juvenile system.
So what are they doing? Cleaning up facilities, letting kids wear clothes and attend classes, emphasizing counseling and rehabilitation rather than satisfying this society's savage punishment-lust - such as they do in Arizona, where the crazed sheriff of Maricopa County, Joe Arpaio, makes his prisoners of any age live in tents, wear demeaning clothing and spend their time doing hard labor. Arizona doesn't follow the Missouri Model, and their juvenile recidivism rate is 28 percent over three years, over three times the rate in Missouri.
The CNN article linked above does include quotes from "critics [who] argue the Missouri model's residential centers are too soft on juvenile delinquents and that some youths may never become law abiding citizens." This in spite of the fact that Missouri's "juvenile delinquents" are already becoming law abiding citizens at greater rates than states where punishment is the end and only goal.
Again and again, measures that conservatives decry as being "too soft" are shown to be the most and sometimes only effective way to deal with our problems and challenges. Pursuing terrorist suspects with police work? Too soft. Rehabilitating criminals, especially juveniles and non-violent offenders? Too soft.
But these approaches simply work, and Missouri - no liberal enclave - is to be congratulated for its success. Let's hope all 50 states manage to follow in Missouri's footsteps.
