Juvenile Jails Going Private

SAGINAW —According to an October 5 Saginaw News story by reporter Avi Stern, "Michigan’s justice system increasingly is relying on the private sector for solutions to youth crime."

The state’s first privately owned, maximum-security juvenile facility, the Wolverine Center, opened its doors in Saginaw County last September. Stern quotes Saginaw County Chief Probate Judge Faye M. Harrison: "Dealing with the private sector can provide some flexibility. If a child has a particular special need, we can seek a program that fits it rather than trying to plug someone into the one program the county or state finances."

State institutions such as the Maxey and Adrian training schools, says the Saginaw News, will now have to compete more vigorously with private agencies for contracts to treat young criminals from Wayne County. In 1998, Wayne County—which produces about half of Michigan’s delinquents—will assume full responsibility for the offenders instead of placing them in state care. Wayne County officials might look for advice to Saginaw County, which has relied on private sector juvenile programs for at least a quarter century.