The state Office of Juvenile Justice has been given the OK to borrow up to $60 million to build two new youth prisons, but advocates for young people said the state appears to have forgotten plans to create more community-based services for young people.

Officials with the office think the highest priority now is to replace two youth lockups that are unsafe and ineffective. The existing prisons are Swanson Center for Youth in Monroe and the Bridge City Center for Youth outside New Orleans.

James Bueche, the deputy secretary of the office, said the new plan will save the state money in the long run and hopefully youngsters will do better at better facilities. The state has already made some progress by closing dormitories at the existing facilities and moving them to the new Acadiana Center for Youth in Bunkie.

Bueche said the agency has plans to provide more community-based services in conjunction with the new juvenile lockups made possible by an additional $12 million in the office’s budget.

Construction of the new lockups still needs approval from the State Bond Commission. If the commission approves the proposal, the new centers could be completed by 2021. They will be modeled after the Acadiana Center.

Rachel Gassert, policy director for the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights, told The Advocate that Bridge City and Swanson need to be replaced, but there is no evidence that a youth prison model with 72 beds really works well to rehabilitate children.

Gina Womack, executive director of the nonprofit Family and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children in New Orleans, said the state seems to have lost track of implementing the expansive juvenile justice reforms that the state approved about 15 years ago.

The Juvenile Justice Reform Act Implementation Commission was created in 2003 to oversee improvements. Womack said the board hasn’t met since 2016 despite her efforts to get a thorough analysis of the juvenile justice system.

Womack said many of the challenges are not the existing buildings themselves but short staffing, lack of training and funding shortages. Bueche said the office is also working on opening two group homes that will be more focused on job placement and training, as well as independent living skills.

We think both the Office of Juvenile Justice and the two children’s organizations are making good arguments. The commission created in 2003 needs to become active and all three groups need to be involved in overseeing juvenile justice improvements and making reforms that were its original purpose.

This editorial was written by a member of the American Press Editorial Board. Its content reflects the collaborative opinion of the Board, whose members include Crystal Stevenson, John Guidroz, Jim Beam and Mike Jones.