D.C. Juvenile Reform Official Quickly Shakes Up Attitudes

Schiraldi said he is still adjusting to his role, learning to use "a little more honey and a little less vinegar." He firmly believes that large, locked institutions, like Oak Hill, worsen negative behaviors, he said. In the District, 32 percent of juvenile offenders end up in adult prison within three years, Schiraldi said. In Missouri, that figure is 8 percent. By the 1980s, Missouri had replaced all large institutions with rehabilitation homes of about 20 beds each and many programs, group sessions and high staff-youth ratios. Missouri's per-capita cost is lower than the District's.

A wealth of evidence suggests that such systems as Missouri's substantially lower recidivism with little risk to the community, said Barry C. Feld, a University of Minnesota law professor and juvenile justice scholar.

"When you have large numbers of inmates, there is a primary influence placed on security and authoritarian controls, and that produces the most violent, negative and hostile inmate subcultures. . . . Staff, themselves, end up resorting to violence . . . to control it," he said. In smaller settings, staff workers can cultivate positive behavior, he said.

Schiraldi has reduced the confined population by 23 percent in seven months, even as serious crime by juveniles in the District fell. He appointed a new director at Oak Hill and shut the worst units to improve the facility until it is replaced, slated for fall 2006.

Schiraldi's new employment opportunities for youths include 30 UPS jobs this fall and jobs in the juvenile facilities. He is working to create entrepreneurial programs that put abilities to legal uses. "These kids learn a certain skill set when they sell drugs," he explained. "They can use that. You buy an ounce of pot, you divide it into nickel bags, you mark it up. . . You gotta make a profit."

In one innovation, some juvenile offenders in the community are taken to a supervised center from 3 to 9 p.m. for sports, academic help and dinner and then taken home, said Mai Fernandez of the Latin American Youth Center, which Schiraldi chose for the pilot program.

Not everything has gone smoothly during Schiraldi's tenure. Warehouse glitches and hoarding have prevented such necessities as underwear and soap from reaching some young people. On a visit to Oak Hill in July, Schiraldi could thrust his arm through gaping holes in the dirty drywall of some units.

Although a broad spectrum of people in community groups praise Schiraldi's philosophy of more incentives and less punishment, it still meets some skepticism -- at times in the juvenile facilities.

"It's always about rewarding. There's enough rewarding. They need discipline," one officer said during a lively staff discussion about the direction Oak Hill is headed. Schiraldi replied that discipline alone is not the answer: "You ain't gonna punish the badness out of them."

An hour later, he left Oak Hill's razor-wire enclosed compound for the Youth Services Center. Photos of people who have succeeded despite incarceration during their youth cover the walls near his office.

Creating models in the District that bring more success stories seemed to weigh heavily on him. "We have a hangover from our incarceration binge," he remarked.

His enthusiasm quickly resumed. "Hopefully we'll drink some tomato juice and get better," he quipped.

Then he went back to work.