Lake County Effort Aims To Keep Juveniles Out Of Jail

CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) — An effort in Lake County seeks to keep juvenile offenders out of jail by providing them with alternatives.

The Post-Tribune reports that Lake County has seen success in offering young people alternatives to incarceration, including home detention, day and evening reporting programs, residential alternatives and foster care.

The Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative was launched in 1992 to safely lower incarceration levels for juveniles by analyzing each child's situation and providing a variety of alternatives to jail. The program has been implemented in almost 200 jurisdictions in 39 states and the District of Columbia.

Lake Superior Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr., senior judge of the juvenile division, plans to talk with the county's police department about the best ways they can apply the program's principles.