HANCOCK COUNTY — A recent police report noted that a county law enforcement official was going to take several hours away from the department due to transporting a juvenile to a detention facility in Fort Wayne.

It’s been over a year since county officials learned they would not have a permanent place to detain children accused of crimes. While officials who run the county’s juvenile program said they had a plan to adapt to the unforeseen circumstances, not much has changed since a contract for services with the Delaware County Juvenile Detention Center was terminated.

That contract included some 2,000 bed spots per year and transportation for juveniles. Josh Sipes, Hancock County chief probation officer, told county officials when the contract ended that Delaware County Juvenile Detention Center limited its total beds to 20 with 10 to 12 of those earmarked for Delaware County with the remaining beds set aside for counties who have formerly used the facility.

One year later, the county is operating under the same circumstances.

“We don’t currently have a contract with any detention facility,” Sipes said. “There is nothing I feel like we can do immediately because I’ve reached out to every detention center within a reasonable range and no one can commit to taking us on.”

Local law enforcement officials say when it comes to detaining children locally who commit crimes, it’s always a guessing game as to where the juvenile will end up.

“We take them wherever we are told to take them,” Deputy Chief for the Greenfield Police Department (GPD) Chuck McMichael said.

When officials from the GPD have a juvenile under arrest, they contact the probation office and give them the details of the arrest. If the arrest meets criteria which allows the juvenile to be detained in a facility, probation will call around to see what facility has the ability to house the juvenile.

“Frankly, that could be anywhere in the state,” McMichael said.

Fortunately, officials with the GPD say they’ve only had two juveniles who met criteria for detention since the middle of last year. One of those juveniles went to Delaware County, the other went to Johnson County.

“So far, we haven’t had to go too far,” McMichael said.

Sipes noted that, at the time of the interview, only two county kids were detained, and the most they’ve had at any given time has been five.

“Out of the latest five, two were sent to Delaware County, two were sent to Johnson County and one was sent to Allen County,” Sipes said.

Sipes noted for the kid who is in Allen County that the officer in the case had to call five different detention facilities before finding one to take the teen in.

Ultimately, law enforcement would like the county to have it’s own juvenile detention center. Officials admit that a county facility would be expensive to operate. However, County Commissioner Bill Spalding noted that cost probably is not the biggest issue.

“I don’t think it’s so much about the cost as it is finding the people who want to man those positions regardless if it’s local or not,” Spalding said. “That’s one of the reasons the other facility we used to use shut down for the most part — it’s a manpower issue.”

Spalding feels that when an officer is tasked with driving to and going to pick up a juvenile who can be hundreds of miles away at an out-of-county detention, it’s not good for a police force.

“It takes an officer out of action, whether it’s to transport a juvenile or another inmate,” Spalding said. “It’s one of the reasons our Sheriff doesn’t want to take people on warrant elsewhere because you’re leaving our county open when we really don’t have a body to spare.”

Sipes noted the true cost to run a local detention facility for youth could be around $2 million a year.

“The problem is a facility that holds people has to have a 24-hour staff, an administrator, medical and an educational staff for kids,” Sipes said. “All of that costs a lot of money, and if we’re having only five kids at most at once, the cost just does not make sense.

Prosecutor Brent Eaton said while Sipes and his department do a good job in dealing with county juveniles in crisis, Eaton feels the community would be better served if officials had a permanent place locally or regionally to detain children who commit crimes.

“Unfortunately, we’re in the same boat we were in a year ago,” Eaton said. “Everyone agrees not having a local or dedicated nearby facility makes public safety harder.”

Eaton feels because there is not a dedicated place to take child offenders, it alters the way police, judges and his office approach their work with children who commit crimes.

“At times, young people can be involved in destructive behavior, and the truth of it is those young people and the public would be better served if the kids were detained while they worked on things,” Eaton said. “Without question, our lack of resources, there is a public safety problem.”

McMichael noted while officials with the county’s probation department do a great job in finding officers a placement facility when needed, the longterm answer would be a dedicated, permanent facility.

“The issue continues to be staffing and occupancy levels at area facilities and whether or not they have space for our detainees,” McMichael said.

The saving grace is, McMichael noted, at the end of the day, they feel fortunate not having to need placement very often.

County officials have budgeted about $225,000 for juvenile detention in 2024. Sipes said going rates at facilities is $170 to $200 a night. He feels the best solution is working with other nearby counties on the creation of a regional facility, or adding more local alternative and intervention programs, which could allow for home detention.

“The big wish would be to have a regional facility with Shelby, Rush and Henry, some of our eastern, rural counties partnering together, because historically we don’t lock up a ton of kids,” Sipes said. “That’s what made Delaware County so useful.”

For now, there is no immediate answer, and the county continues to work the same strategies as a year ago. Sipes noted he is putting together a committee of community partners committed to examining alternatives to detention, which could include electronic monitoring or day reporting programs.

“I guess we’re really trying to get creative,” Sipes said.

 
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