How to Calculate the Average Costs of Detaining a YouthWednesday, May 29, 2013 2:00-3:00 p.m. EST

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• Leads a national movement• State-based juvenile justice

coalitions and organizations (43 members in 33 states)

• Laws, policies and practices that are fair, equitable and developmentally appropriate for all children, youth and families

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Cathy Conly Director of the Fiscal Policy Center

Julius Chaidez Fiscal Policy Associate

NJJN Fiscal Policy Center

The FPC provides reformers with fiscal tools and resources to improve juvenile justice policy in their own states.

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• Demonstrate how to calculate the average costs of housing a youth in detention

• Detention centers are typically short-term, secure, or non-secure facilities for youth who are awaiting trial, sentencing or post-adjudication placement in a juvenile correctional facility

Focus of Today’s Presentation

• One of several toolkits in a series

• How to use budget data and statistics to estimate costs for different stages of the juvenile justice system

NJJN Toolkit

• Download from www.njjn.org or ourFPC Resource Center http://bit.ly/YxAvWY

NJJN Toolkit

• Identifying relevant information for calculating costs

• Locating information

• Calculating average costs using real data

• Reviewing frequently-asked questions about the costs of detention

Topics We Will Cover

Expenditure Data:

• Budget information (e.g., personnel services, fringe benefits, contractual services, supplies and materials)

Population Statistics:

• Average daily population

• Average length of stay, if available.

Information You Will Need

1. Divide the annual expenditure for detention by the average daily population

2. Divide the result by 365 days to obtain the average cost per youth per day

3. Multiply the result by the average length of stay (if available) to obtain the average cost of a youth’s entire stay in detention

Basic How-To

Which Agencies Have the Info You Need ?

In order to calculate the cost of detention, you will need to consider the following issues:

• Who operates youth detention facilities?

• What services are offered and by whom?

• What is the best method for locating data?

ID the Best Method for Locating Data

• Contact agency or organization directly

• Conduct internet search

• File a public information act request

Locate the Budget Information

• Find the annual operating budget for the agency responsible for operating detention facilities

• Locate budget categories—actual, appropriated, operating, requested—may be shown

• Review what types of services are included in the annual operating budget

• Determine if you may need to review several different budgets to construct a complete picture of the annual detention expenditure in your jurisdiction

Additional Cost and Revenues

• Capital improvement costs

• Other costs of doing business • Capital costs of construction

• Revenues

• Including additional costs and revenues is likely to result in cost estimates that are different from the ones reported by a detention facility

• Excluding these costs and revenues will simply result in a conservative estimate of the costs of detention

Other Detention Costs and Revenues

In order to locate detention statistics you will need to:• Contact the detention center directly• Locate the detention center’s annual

reports (e.g., Department of Juvenile Justice Annual Report, Juvenile Justice Annual Statistical Report)• Collect information on average daily

population and average length of stay

Locate Detention Statistics

Example: Cook County, IL

In the following example we will review:• Juvenile Temporary Detention Center

(JTDC) operating budget• Health and mental health expenditures• Population statistics• Average cost calculation

JTDC Operating Budget Example

• NJJN located the JTDC budget under the public safety portion of the County’s budget

• Extracted the total appropriated expenditure for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 from the summary budget sheet

Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center Expenditure

FY 2011

Personnel Services $33,031,562

Health and Pension Benefits $8,472,900

Contractual Services $9,439,448Supplies and Materials $4,360,000Operations and Maintenance $218,400Rental Leasing $33,257Capital Equipment $321,458TOTAL EXPENDITURE $55,877,025

JTDC Appropriated Expenditure - FY 2011

Health Services Budget Example

NJJN contacted staff at the JTDC to determine:

• JTDC pays for mental health through contractual agreement with an outside provider

• Medical services are funded by the Cook County Health and Hospitals System

Cook County Health and Hospitals System Juvenile Temporary Detention Center Budget

FY 2011

TOTAL EXPENDITURENote: Includes salaries, pension, fringe benefits, and administrative costs.

$4,409,179

JDTC Health Svcs. Appropriation - FY2011

NJJN staff contacted JTDC staff to determine:

• Chicago Public Schools pays for education services

• Nancy B. Jefferson is an alternative school in the detention facility

Education Budget Example

Education Budget Example

Nancy B. Jefferson Alternative School Budget FY 2011

TOTAL EXPENDITURENote: Includes salaries, pension, fringe benefits, and administrative costs.

$8,267,811

Total Detention and Services

Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center Expenditure FY 2011

Juvenile Temporary Detention Center $55,877,025

Health and Hospital System $4,409,179

Nancy B. Jefferson Alternative School $8,267,811

TOTAL EXPENDITURE $68,554,015

NJJN staff contacted the JTDC administrators and obtained the following statistical data for FY2011 data --

JTDC Population Statistics Example

Cook County Juvenile Detention Statistics

FY 2011 Juvenile Temporary Detention Center Statistics - Cook County, IL

Average Length of Stay (in days) 43.24

Average Daily Population 288

In the following steps we will show you how to calculate:• Average annual cost per youth (or, average annual

cost per occupied bed)• Average cost per youth per day• Cost of an average stay in detention

Do the Math

• Select the detention and services expenditure summary:

First

Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center Expenditure FY 2011

Juvenile Temporary Detention Center $55,877,025

Health and Hospital System $4,409,179

Nancy B. Jefferson Alternative School $8,267,811

TOTAL EXPENDITURE $68,554,015

• Divide the total annual detention expenditure by the average daily population:

Then

Average Annual Cost per Youth in FY 2011

(Total Yearly Expenditure) $68,554,015 ÷ (Average Daily Juvenile Population) ÷ 288 Average Annual Cost per Youth $238,034.77

• Divide the average annual cost per youth by the number of days in a year:

Next

Average Cost per Youth per Day in FY 2011

(Average Annual Cost per Youth) $238,034.77 ÷ (Number of Days in a Year) ÷ 365 Average Cost per Youth per Day $652.15

• Multiply the average cost per youth per day by the average length of stay:

Finally

Average Cost per Youth of a Stay in Detention in FY 2011

(Average Cost per Youth per Day) $652.15 X (Average Length of Stay in Days) X 43.24 Average Cost of a Stay in Detention $28,198.96

• Initiate more complex cost-benefit analyses aimed at understanding the effects of detention policies on society, communities, and individual youth in the juvenile justice system

• Compare the cost of detention with the cost of community-based alternatives

• Help in assessing the cost implications of proposals to construct more detention beds or limit the funding for alternatives

How to Use this Toolkit

• If policy changes I’m working on will reduce the number of youth detained in my jurisdiction, can I work through the toolkit and determine how much money the corrections agency will save?

• Am I likely to obtain different cost estimates if I use the number of detention beds rather than the average daily population to calculate the average cost per youth per day?

Frequently Asked Questions

• Should I include or exclude the cost of education?

• What other costs should I consider when thinking about the costs of youth detention?

Frequently Asked Questions

Julius C. Chaidez202-467-0864 x129 chaidez@juvjustice.org

Cathy Conly202-467-0864 x126conly@juvjustice.org

Questions?

Fiscal Policy Center (FPC)National Juvenile Justice Network1319 F Street, NW, Suite 402Washington, D.C. 20004www.njjn.orgFPC Resource Center http://bit.ly/YxAvWY