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Rock County officials react to report criticizing juvenile justice system

JANESVILLE — Rock County officials said they didn’t know of all the problems listed in a report on the juvenile justice division, but they stood by the division’s managers and believe they can make improvements.

“There were a lot of things that I didn’t realize were issues,” said Brian Knudson, Rock County Human Services Board chairman. “There are a lot of concerns that need to be dealt with, and it will take time.”

Consultants Jim Moeser of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families and Wayne Liddell of Liddell & Associates were hired to evaluate the juvenile justice division. They were hired after allegations of misconduct.

They presented their report to the board Wednesday.

Outdated practices

The consultants said the division uses outdated practices related to handling juvenile offenders.

“I didn’t’ realize that,” Knudson said. “I thought we were more up to date.”

The staff development budget has been small, and employees haven’t been able to get ongoing training, said Susan Masterson, human services board member.

Because of turnover in division management, people have continued old practices, she said. Turnover has made it difficult to make changes.

The latest division manager was trying fresh approaches, but she resigned, said Craig Knutson, county administrator. The ideas also weren’t being communicated well with employees, who resisted change.

“Change is very, very difficult,” Knutson said. “Many jurisdictions have gone through growing pains as they’ve tried to make changes of this type.”

The division needs to develop policies and procedures and update them regularly, officials said.

“I was surprised to some extent at the lack of policies and procedures in place,” Knutson said.

Developing policies will take time, Masterson said. Schools, law enforcement and others should be involved in those decisions.

Misconduct

The consultants said they couldn’t confirm whether managers wanted to reduce the detention center’s population to close the facility.

“That certainly is the perception to some people,” Knutson said. “That was never communicated to me as county administrator.”

Masterson doesn’t think an effort was made to close the juvenile detention center. She said managers wanted to send more kids to diversion programs instead of detention.

“The intent wasn’t to decrease population; it was to try diversion,” Masterson said.

The consultants also said juvenile probation officers weren’t told to lie in court, but they were encouraged to manipulate what they reported to judges.

Knudson believes that was simply a communication problem.

“My personal opinion is that people are reading too much into that,” he said.

Masterson said it was difficult to decide whether anyone was told to manipulate the court.

“I would not want to believe that anyone would be asked to do anything unethical,” she said.

Instead, the problem might have been a difference of opinion between probation officers and managers. Probation officers sometimes disagree with their manager’s decisions on detention.

“All of us want to believe that we’re doing the right thing,” Masterson said.

Communication

The consultants said the division lacks communication. They said the division’s morale was low and employees don’t trust or respect one another.

Knutson, the county administrator, said he was aware of communication problems within the division.

“I think that is probably the key factor that set in to other problems,” he said.

Knudson, the board chairman, said he didn’t know morale had gotten so bad.

“I didn’t’ realize that some of this stuff had been brewing for this amount of time,” he said.

Officials said openness and improved communication could solve the division’s morale issues.

“I think just about anywhere people work those issues go on to a degree,” said Marvin Wopat, human services board member. “I think that can be worked on and that can be repaired.”

Detention screening

Juvenile probation officers don’t use a standard screening tool when deciding who gets held in detention, the consultants’ report states. The lack of a screening tool is unfair to juveniles.

About 15 probation officers make detention decisions, creating inconsistency, the consultants said.

The division needs to use a screening tool, Knutson said. Fewer people also should be in charge of detention decisions.

One person also should be in charge of overruling detention decisions, Masterson said.

Moving on

Board members and division managers will read the consultants’ report and meet with the consultants again in January, officials said. Then, they will begin planning for changes.

The process will be inclusive and open, Knutson said.

Officials said they were confident that current managers could lead the division into the future.

A new division manager will be hired soon, Knutson said. The new hire must be good with people and have communication skills.

The manager also must understand current juvenile justice practices.

It could take three years to turn around the division, Masterson said.