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Challenges outlined for next Harris County juvie probation director

A Houston Chronicle op ed by Emilie Farenthold, an attorney with a doctorate in public health, identifies the challenges facing whoever is hired as Harris County's juvenile probation director after the last one was fired last fall over a highly publicized security breach. The problems are more serious, she says, than making sure the metal detectors at detention are plugged in:The problems facing the new person are daunting, considering the makeup of some neighborhoods: In Harris County in 2006, 10 of Houston's 88 neighborhoods accounted for almost $100 million a year in prison expenditures. Half the prisoners released that year went back to neighborhoods that collectively contained only 15 percent of Houston's adult population. In these communities, the quality of schools is inferior, dropout rates are high, and a high percentage of juveniles ages 16-19 have not graduated from high school, are not in school and are not working...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on March 15, 2010 (boomark / email).