§ 42-72.6-1 - Legislative findings. - Rhode Island Statutes

SECTION 42-72.6-1

   § 42-72.6-1  Legislative findings. –The Rhode Island training school for youth (RITSY) is charged with theresponsibility for the custody and rehabilitation of juvenile offenders, and apermanent legislative oversight commission has found, and continues to find,grave shortcomings in the rehabilitative and educational programming at theRITSY. The general assembly finds that the failure to rehabilitate and educatethese youths will cause immeasurable pain and cost to the state throughpreventable injury to other citizens by former, un-rehabilitated RITSYresidents and through the substantial cost of maintaining former RITSY youth inthe adult correctional institutions, and/or the state mental health and/orincome maintenance systems. The general assembly has provided resources to thedepartment for children, youth, and families (DCYF) in excess of ninety-fivethousand dollars ($95,000) per year per incarcerated youth, and the RhodeIsland training school for youth has lost accreditation for its presenteducational system. The department for children, youth and families iscurrently in violation of the law passed by this general assembly to maintainan appropriate educational system for every youth incarcerated at the RITSY,and the failure to provide an adequate system of rehabilitative and educationalprogramming is the consequence of the ineffective use of vital and limitedpublic resources.