A drop in the juvenile crime rate in Barron County appears to be linked to the county’s Restorative Justice programs.

A study conducted by Eric Kasper, an assistant professor of political science at UW-Barron County, seems to show a strong correlation in the number of juvenile crimes and the start-up of the Restorative Justice program.

“Juvenile crime rates across the board in Barron County began their decrease right around the time that Barron County Restorative Justice Programs began operations in February of 2000,” said Kasper.

“Since that time, Barron’s juvenile crime rates have dropped well below similarly sized counties, and Barron’s rates have decreased at much faster levels than the rest of the state,” he said.

Barron County District Attorney Angela Holmstrom said today that the program “is clearly working.”

“When we started Restorative Justice in 1999 we had a vision that we could be able to give victims a voice in the process of holding youth directly accountable for their crimes. We knew that victim satisfaction with the system would increase exponentially, which it has.

“Now we are clear that the drop in crime and recidivism of our youth has been directly affected by this effort by involving law enforcement and the schools along with the courts,” Holmstrom said.

Kasper compared juvenile arrests in Barron County with those in 12 comparable Wisconsin counties and with rates across the state. To analyze trends in juvenile arrests and to gauge the impact of Restorative Justice programs, Kasper compared arrest rates from 1995-1999 with 2000-2005 rates. His report, released in November 2007, showed:

• The juvenile arrest rate (arrests per 1,000 juveniles) in Barron County decreased almost 45% 1999-2005. The Wisconsin rate in 2005, the most recent year for which full data are available, was 80.1; the Barron County rate was 36.5.

Rates have decreased statewide, but they “have dropped significantly more in Barron County than in the rest of the state,” according to Kasper.

• Rates for juvenile felonies and for the most violent offenses went down almost 49% in comparing the 5-year period prior to the start up of Restorative Justicewith the 5 years after the programs began in 2000.

“Of particular interest here is the fact that for a period in the late 1990s, the juvenile index arrest rate in Barron County was actually higher than the rest of the state, and now that rate is significantly lower,” Kasper stated.

Barron County juvenile arrests for theft dropped more than 57% from 1999-2005. Kasper noted that “the juvenile theft rate in Barron County was substantially higher than it was in the rest of the state from 1997-1999, but by 2003 the juvenile theft rate was significantly lower than the rest of the state.

“The decrease in juvenile criminal activity in Barron County can perhaps be best explained by the working together of BCRJP with local law enforcement and schools to restore the community and rehabilitate juveniles who have made poor choices,” Kasper concluded.

Holmstrom said credit for the decline in juvenile crime should be shared by all of the school districts, the county, the courts and the local law enforcement—all of which have played a role in the Restorative Justice programs.

Barron County Restorative Justice is a nonprofit organization established by former Barron County Circuit Court Judge Edward Brunner.

Under the principles of Restorative Justice, victims of crime are given a voice to their pain and offenders are given the opportunity to take responsibility and be accountable for the harm they have caused.

Among the tools used are victim-offender conferencing, victim impact panels and community service.

The programs directly affecting juveniles include Teen Court, a restitution-based community service program; truancy intervention; Prime for Life, programs for community members who violate drinking laws; and shoplifting and anger management programs for teenagers.

The program’s director is Polly Wolner and it is governed by a 17-member board of directors comprised of community members. Much of the funding is provided through grants.-01/30/08