County Delinquency Statistics
Click
here to view a printable spreadsheet of Delinquency Statistics
for the county.
Priority Risk Factors
1. Disruptive School Environment:
In the 2002-2003 school year, the Disciplinary data Report
shows that 288 students were suspended out of school for
3 or more days for fighting, disrespectful/insubordinate,
and inappropriate/disruptive behavior as the major cause.
A total of 16 were suspended for the entire year. Currently
2003-2004 school year 51 students have been long suspended
or expelled from school. The number of students served the
Alternative Education Program total 160 while the short
term suspended students served in the CSOP total 328 to
date.
2. Peers Who Engage in Disruptive Behavior:
Students who are long-term suspended from school are transferred
to alternative programs populated with others who have violated
“zero tolerance” policies. Their education process
is in the company of others who are long or short suspended
for violating school rules, increasing the likelihood their
peer group is primarily these with similar behaviors. They
are isolated during school ours from the broader school
population, school sports, or other activities that might
provide access to peers who are not engaging in delinquent
behaviors.
3. Early and Persistent Behavior Problems in Schools:
Over 95% of juveniles going through the intake process demonstrate
early and persistent behavior problems in school along with
academic failure, retention and a lower rate of attendance
than their peers. Failure to read at grade level by grade
2 is now mandated and is a dramatic indicator of problems
both in behavior and academic areas in the following years.
Close to 50% of students who are suspended out of school
for 3-10 days over the past 3 years have violated the “aggressive
behavior” standard with an average of 300 students
suspended annually. 90 of these suspensions are for students
under 16. Long term suspensions in the current school year
are the highest in over 5 years. There have been a total
of 53 students long term suspended.
4. Community Drug and Alcohol Use: A disproportionate
number and percent of youth coming into the juvenile justice
system have documented substance abuse issues in their lives.
Recent data shows that drug and alcohol use has declined
in the general school population in this group, (Youth Risk
Behavior Survey, 2003) but McDowell County is among the
highest 7 counties in the state in the percent of methamphetamine
production and use. Statistics from community law enforcement
agencies (SBI data) shows that the increase in crime identified
last year remains constant in the county. McDowell continues
to be a drug crossroads community with high availability
and difficult terrain to monitor. The Let’s Talk”
program at the McDowell County Health Department shows that
a high percentage of youth self-report as “users”
or know others who are.
5. Family Conflict and Disruption: McDowell
County continues to be in the top 10 or fewer counties in
the highest percentage of child abuse and neglect in North
Carolina. Divorce rates and domestic violence are documented
at far above state averages, based on protective and exparte
orders published annually. McDowell students who are long
term suspended are more than 3 times more likely to live
with a single parent than those who receive a short-term
suspension. Alternative school students last year had 51%
living with a single parent, 12% with someone other than
a parent, and 15% meeting the “homeless” guidelines
of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Act. A need for parenting
skills education and support programs is evident in the
statistics and high percentage of children who are placed
outside the family through DSS. An increasing number of
these children are placed outside of a home where methamphetamine
is being manufactured. Students who will soon become parents
themselves need more opportunities to learn conflict resolution,
increase their social skills and develop health and fitness
goals and beliefs.
DJJDP County Funding Plan
Click
here to view a printable spreadsheet of the DJJDP County
Funding Plan.
