Animal Rehabilitation Program for Youth

Juvenile-Animal Rehabilitation to Reduce Recidivism after Re-entry

In Virginia, about 95% of all incarcerated youth have been adjudicated for a felony offense and 70% of those offenses were against a person (Durnan and Harvell, 2017). According to the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice, among those who have been released from direct care in one of the Juvenile Correctional Centers, about 52% of those juvenile offenders were rearrested and 42% were re-convicted from 2014-2015 (Durnan and Harvell, 2017). The rates for rearrests and re-convictions have not significantly increased or decreased over the years.

In order to make a change and decrease the juvenile offender recidivism rate, the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice should consider implementing a new juvenile re-entry program that allows the juvenile offenders to transfer to the Fairfax County Detention Center to participate in the Animal Rehabilitation Program before re-entry into the community.

There are several facilities with reentry programs in various parts of Virginia that have been effective, but none have an animal rehabilitation program geared towards juveniles.

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Not all juveniles respond well to traditional rehabilitative programs such as therapy, counseling, or interventions (Detention Reentry). Some need a more hands-on program to develop employment skills and social skills needed for a successful re-entry. That is why there is a need for an animal rehabilitation program; it is a 24/7 hands-on program that requires juveniles to learn on the spot to take care of their assigned dog. The goal for juveniles re-entering the community is to be accepted, not rejected based on the stigma surrounding them. Juveniles should not feel like an outcast and pushed into a criminal subculture where recidivism is likely to occur (Cullen, Agnew, & Wilcox, 2018).

It is imperative that juvenile offenders are prepared for the immense freedom and responsibility when re-entering the community. This in turn will help decrease recidivism rates.

Juvenile offenders who are eligible will have the opportunity to transition to the Fairfax County Detention Center to participate in the Animal Rehabilitation Program prior to their release. The detention center will partner with the Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation located in Arlington, VA. This foundation will provide the detention center with five dogs who are in need of training to be adoptable. Five juveniles will then be paired with the five dogs to train over the span of an eight-week period. One of the goals behind this program is for the juveniles to make connections not only with the dogs, but with the foundation, the employees of the foundation, and the families that want to adopt the dogs.

The juveniles will have the opportunity to leave the facility to pick up the dogs, meet the employees of the foundation, and the families wanting to adopt the dogs after the eight-week training period. This gives the juvenile offenders a taste of life outside the facility, even if it is only for a few hours. They also get to see where the dogs' future homes will be which gives the juveniles a sense of pride knowing that they can make another family happy with their accomplishment. The juveniles will benefit from these accomplishments as they are essentially contributing to the community they will be re-entering.

The Juvenile-Animal Rehabilitation Program will be implemented through the use of Reintegrative Shaming Theory. This theory focuses on shaming the offender's criminal or deviant act and works to reintegrate the offender back into the community. The act is shamed, but the identity of the offender is preserved (Cullen, Agnew, & Wilcox, 2018). Keeping this theory in mind, the Juvenile-Animal Rehabilitation program will give juvenile offenders the necessary skills that will allow for productive re-entry into the community. Giving juvenile offenders a second chance at redemption will help them reintegrate back into the community and steer away from a criminal subculture using the connections made and life skills gained from this program.

References

1. Cullen, F., Agnew, R., & Wilcox, P. (2018). Criminological Theory: Past to Present (6th.ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
2. Durnan, J., & Harvell, S. (2017). Data Snapshot of Youth Incarcerated in Virginia.
3. Detention Reentry. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.djj.virginia.gov/pages/residential/detention-reentry.htm