LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – County records show Pulaski County is on pace to jail
5 percent more children this year than 2017.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports 513 youths were locked up at the Pulaski County Juvenile Detention Center between January and October, compared to 486 during the same months last year.
Officials say they’re uncertain why the county is seeing an increase. Juvenile
jail admission numbers were especially low in 2017 at a total of 568 children,
down from 701 in 2016.
Collected data doesn’t include how many children are repeat offenders and
jailed multiple times in a given year.
Youth advocates say some children were deemed “low-risk” in pre-detention
screenings but were kept behind bars because there was nowhere else for them to
go. Advocates are calling for an emergency shelter in Little Rock.
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