DAVENPORT, Iowa — The battle continues between one Scott County Supervisor and the rest of the board during a meeting on Tuesday, August 17th.
Scott County Supervisor Ken Croken proposed an alternative to building a 40-bed juvenile detention center.
"What experts today are recommending is a transition to more community-based programs that would facilitate rehabilitation, and a return to family and community," said Croken.
Other county supervisors and court officials did not support the proposal and say they believe the best option was to move forward with building a larger detention center.
"Our juvenile detention center of 18 beds is not nearly enough and we need to go down the track of building a bigger facility," said John Maxwell, Scott County Supervisor.
Croken pitched a duplicate program based in Pennsylvania, called the "Youth Advocate Program" or YAP. It would be a 12-month community based program in partnership with the Lincoln Resource Center in Davenport. If accepted, juveniles would join the program instead of going into detention.
"It's a 24/7 wraparound program that would be used ideally in targeting some of the most challenging cases of young people who need intensive family-focused supervision," said Croken.
Court officials say his proposal is too similar to what the county already has.
"We don't need to hire someone from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. We can stay local and get the same results,” said Maxwell.
Maxwell says the board wants to meet Croken in the middle and strengthen the programs they already have along with continuing the build on the 40-bed facility, despite how much it will cost.
"I agree with Supervisor Croken that we try to get the youth to not be incarcerated, if there are other possibilities,” said Maxwell." The biggest issue is keeping the youth at home. There is no price for that."
But, Croken says the excuse to keep children in the county isn’t enough reason to spend $17 million on a new facility.
“The intention of many of those who would build the largest facility in the state on a per capita basis are doing so with the intention of bringing children from other communities to Scott County for their detention,” said Croken.
Supervisor Croken has invited the YAP leaders in Pennsylvania to speak with the county’s juvenile services department. If they don't speak before the next board meeting, Croken says he will not reintroduce the proposal.