News-Record.com

The state auditor finds a lack of monitoring by some Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils. Fortunately, Guilford County seems to be an exception.

North Carolina has a good approach to steering young people out of trouble. It needs to do a better job, however, of making sure its efforts work as well as they should.

Effectiveness and accountability are more important now than ever, with the state getting ready to funnel millions of additional dollars to gang-prevention programs.

The state requires each county to have a Juvenile Crime Prevention Council, which allocates funds to local agencies that provide services for youth considered at risk of delinquency or referred by the court system. Council members include judges, commissioners, police officers and a diverse array of community representatives.

It’s smart for the state to let local experts choose community resources to meet the needs of their own population. At the same time, accountability matters. It’s essential to get results from every dollar invested.

A report from the Office of the State Auditor casts doubt. It examined a sampling of county councils — not including Guilford’s — and found a lack of monitoring of funded programs by both the local councils and the N.C. Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

“Weak JCPC monitoring procedures may allow programs to receive funding without providing services of the quality and quantity outlined in the program agreement,” the audit stated. “Monitoring helps determine which programs are successful and whether limited funds are spent wisely.”

The Department of Juvenile Justice essentially agreed with the auditor’s findings and said it’s taking steps to do better. It should.

Guilford County seems to be a step ahead. It already follows the state’s monitoring guidelines, Beverly I. Williams, the county’s coordinated services manager, said Wednesday.

“Monitoring has always been inherent here,” she said. One reason: The service providers are generally United Way agencies, which are held strictly accountable by that private funding organization.

Guilford County’s Juvenile Crime Prevention Council reviews agencies’ performances annually and considers assessments by juvenile court counselors before awarding funds, Williams said. The process is competitive.

This year, about $1 million from the Department of Juvenile Justice has been awarded to agencies, including Youth Focus, Family Service of the Piedmont, One Step Further and The Guilford Center, to provide intervention services for young people already in the legal system.

“Our goal is to cut down on recidivism,” Williams said.

Despite local matching funds and grants from other sources, there’s no money left for prevention programs, Williams added. Too many young people are already in trouble.

That’s why every dollar has to count and why every agency spending dollars must be held accountable for results. The state should make sure money goes only where it gets results.