Intro: The Montgomery City Youth Center is the lone facility in Missouri to house dual-jurisdiction juvenile delinquents. Two teens were admitted into the facility, and are the first two to be admitted into the program from the Joplin-area.
Beth Ford takes us inside the program. Of the forty spots at the Montgomery City Youth Center, 16 are part of the dual-jurisdication program, with strict requirements to be eligible for the program.
Dual-jurisdiction imposes juvenile and adult sentences at the same time for convicted teens. Adult criminal charges are postponed and served after completion of the juvenile correction program.
Senior Program Administrator of the Department of Youth Services Brent Buerck says currently there are no plans to add additional facilities since the Montgomery City program proves time and time again to be successful.
Buerck says even though he doesn't want to see more kids in the system, he hopes for more juveniles to be considered for the program. Applicants, most importantly, must express a desire to change.
From the state capitol, I'm Beth Ford, KMOX News.
Actuality: BUERCK1.WAV
Run Time: 00:05
Description: "Of all those kids that go back into the community, only 17 percent have reoffended and gone to prison."
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