CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nearly 400 times so far this year in Clarksville, a child has run away.
When police locate runaways, it's not always case-closed. Unfortunately, the system isn't set up in a way to get to the root of that child's problem.
For decades, Lisa Prichard's been an advocate for Montgomery County kids. Prichard is on the Montgomery County Commission. She says if there was a closer center for juveniles, perhaps they could get to the root of some problems.
"Yeah, we have juvenile court, and we have some fabulous people in our juvenile court, but the massive amount of work we have to do can't be shouldered just by them," said Prichard.
Of this year's runaway reports, several of them were repeat offenders. Including a recent case, where a 15-year-old boy ran away for at least the third time in five weeks. In that case, there was no bed available at any of the facilities that are used by the Montgomery County Juvenile Courts, so he was released back to his mother, and 30 minutes later ran away again.
"There's something he needs and we're not giving it to him," she said.
There are a handful of juvenile detention centers in Middle Tennessee. They tend to be packed full.
Under state law, kids who are picked up by police usually they have to go to a juvenile detention facility rather than the local jail.
Prichard, who's provided a roof for six homeless kids, is part of a determined committee looking for land in Montgomery County to create a regional juvenile resource and justice center.
"You can't talk to a child or interview a child or find out what's going on in that child's life if you don't have a place to sit and talk to them," she said.
So far this year, the Clarksville Police Department has spent nearly 1,287 man-hours transporting juveniles to and from a juvenile facility. More than a thousand of those hours were overtime hours.
JUVENILE JUSTICE CENTERS IN THE STATE
This is a list of all the detention facilities in the state:
- Bedford County Juvenile Detention Center (Shelbyville)
- Blount County Juvenile Detention Center (Maryville)
- Bradley County Juvenile Detention Center (Cleveland)
- Davidson County Juvenile Detention Center (Nashville)
- Hamilton County Juvenile Detention Center (Chattanooga)
- Madison County Juvenile Detention Center (Jackson)
- Middle Tennessee Juvenile Detention Center (Columbia)
- Putnam County Juvenile Detention Center (Cookeville)
- Rhea County Juvenile Detention Center (Dayton)
- Richard L. Bean Juvenile Service Center/Knox County Juvenile Detention (Knoxville)
- Rutherford County Juvenile Detention Center (Murfreesboro)
- Scott County Juvenile Detention Center (Huntsville)
- Sevier County Juvenile Services Center (Sevierville)
- Shelby County Juvenile Detention Center (Memphis)
- UHS/McDowell Juvenile Detention Center (Dyersburg)
- Upper East Tennessee Regional Juvenile Detention Center (Johnson City)
- Williamson County Juvenile Detention Center (Franklin)
