By State Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson

I hope we never forget the tragic 1994 drive-by shooting of Melissa Fernandez at Ballard High School.

That tragedy caused a great deal of soul-searching in Ballard and around Seattle. People were scared by alarming increases in gang activity, youth violence and juvenile crime.

It was our worst fears coming true in our own neighborhoods.

I remembered all this recently as I reviewed new information that shows our state’s juvenile justice reforms are working effectively to rescue kids from crime – both as perpetrators and victims.

For example:

– The number of youth incarcerated in Juvenile Rehabilitation facilities is only half what it was in 1997 (a 49 percent reduction).

– Juvenile arrests have fallen by one-third over the past 10 years.

– Prosecutor filings for felony crimes committed by youth have dropped 36 percent since 1995.

– Misdemeanor filings by prosecutors (which often indicate larger trends) have been reduced by 64 percent since 1995.

Successes like these show why Washington is one of the four best states in America for leadership on juvenile justice.

This is not a personal opinion. It is a conclusion of the highly-respected “Models for Change” initiative by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

A big reason for our success in reducing juvenile crime is that state lawmakers decided to base juvenile justice reforms on hard evidence. Relying on evidence-based practices instead of on tough-sounding – but ineffective – policies has made a huge difference.

Washington’s nation-leading shift to evidence-based reforms started in the mid-1990s. Tragedies such as the murder of Melissa Fernandez and startling increases in youth violence led to a statewide debate.

Some politicians said we needed more “tough on crime” policies. But other leaders—including Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, the late King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng and myself—argued for “smart on crime” reforms which unite strong penalties with drug treatment and other services that address root causes of youth involvement in criminal activity.

Most importantly, our “smart on crime” reforms focused on following the evidence.

In the mid-1990s, for example, many people touted programs like “Boot camp for juvenile criminals” and “Scared Straight,” where adult convicts would try to scare youth away from crime with descriptions of prison life, and so on.

Programs like these sound tough. But, hard evidence on actual outcomes showed that both of these (and many other) programs didn’t reduce repeat offenses at all.

But, the evidence also showed that other strategies—such as drug courts and aggression-reduction therapy—produce dramatic reductions in repeat offenses and can save taxpayers a fortune in the process.

We cut crime and saved kids by focusing on real evidence about what works, and not on emotions and guesswork.

Criminal justice experts recently told the House Human Services Committee (which I chair) that we should do more to apply the evidence-based approach of our juvenile justice reforms to the adult prison system. That is good news.

Unfortunately, Washington’s still-fragile budget picture could undermine our efforts. We’re already seeing some counties retreat from the use of drug courts—even though they’re working—because government grants to fund drug courts are running out.

I’m especially concerned the next round of budget cuts could shrink programs that we know are working to rescue kids and improve public safety.

Underfunding money-saving programs is a fool’s bargain that would be bad for the state treasury and bad for young lives.

We must not forget the scary and tragic times that led to fundamental reform of our juvenile justice system, and we must work even harder to make our neighborhoods as safe as they can be. This means staying the course and funding the reforms that we know are working well for us every day.

Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson can be reached at Dickerson.MaryLou@leg.wa.gov or 206.545.6513. Her district office is located at 2208 N.W. Market St. Suite 310A.