Juvenile detention undergoing change

WASHINGTON, March 16 (UPI) -- U.S. juvenile justice advocates say high costs and budget shortfalls are forcing states to reconsider how they handle youthful offenders.

California Gov. Jerry Brown, facing a $26 billion state budget deficit, has proposed closing the state's four juvenile detention facilities by 2014 and sending the money to the counties to run their own lockups, USA Today reported Wednesday.

"We're on a pathway to the end of the state system," said David Steinhart of the California advocacy group Commonweal.

In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to close juvenile prisons despite local opposition over lost jobs while New York City seeks to opt out of the state system entirely.

Other states like Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania offer financial incentives to counties to keep youthful offenders in local programs.

"There isn't a whole lot of evidence that state-run juvenile correction systems can be anything other than expensive," said Bart Lubow of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a Maryland-based group that promotes alternatives to incarceration for kids.