Of the organizations that would be negatively affected by the failure of Measure 28, the juvenile justice system and youth services in Lane County are preparing for losses.
Without the passage of the Jan. 28 tax-package, the state will cut $7.8 million in juvenile justice funding and $3.1 million in youth services from the budget of Oregon Youth Authority. The OYA provides community-based services, supervision and legal and physical custody to repeat and high-risk youth offenders, as well as to youths convicted of adult crimes.
The failure would also shut down four youth corrections facilities, several alternative schools and programs, 50 percent of all shelter care and 250 youth beds statewide. The loss of state-funded beds means 250 high-risk youth offenders will be released into communities across the state — 28 in Lane County alone.
“We definitely will not be able to expand, let alone use, the majority of beds we need now,” Lane County Juvenile Justice Center director Lisa Smith said.
In 2002, 2,279 youths were referred to the Lane County Department of Youth Services, and Smith said it will be hard to accommodate a similar number in 2003.
Jim Forbes, executive director at Looking Glass — a private, nonprofit organization that each year serves more than 7,000 children and families in Lane County — said the organization will also face decreased funding. Forbes said a 50 percent decrease in beds is expected, along with various other cuts, if Measure 28 does not pass.
“We’re almost more concerned with its impact on other services that we rely on, like the court system,” he said. “We all have different roles to play.”
John Aarons, an adjunct instructor for the University’s Substance Abuse Prevention Program, has worked for the juvenile justice system since the late ’70s. He said he remembers the numerous shelters and youth services of the past, and that demand is greater now.
“We are already operating on less bed space compared to 1975,” Aarons said. “Higher need means higher risk.”
Aarons said he doesn’t think the community will feel an immediate impact, however, because overworked employees are doing whatever is necessary to handle cases.
Cuts are already in place at Oak Creek Youth Correctional Facility, which primarily serves Lane County and obtains the majority of its funding from the state’s general fund.
“We’ve been prepared to take the cuts outlined,” said South Valley OYA Area Coordinator Faye Fagel, who spent all day Thursday giving notice to 74 of her employees. OYA will cut 265 employees in all if Measure 28 fails.
In assessing the cutbacks in progress for the court system and mental health and youth services, Fagel said the biggest problem with a small state budget is how intertwined the whole system remains.