Rick Scott Showcases Decline in Juvenile Delinquency

Gov. Rick Scott announced on Tuesday that juvenile arrests continued to drop in Florida, with a reduction of 8 percent in 2013-14. A new report from the state Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) has found a 36 percent decline in juvenile arrests in the last five years, leading to the lowest juvenile arrest level in more than 30 years..

Making Florida the best state in the nation to get a job and raise a family is our mission and that starts with making sure we have safe communities for our families and job creators, Scott said on Tuesday. I would like to thank everyone at the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and our hard-working law enforcement community for their continued work.

This decrease in arrests over nearly every juvenile offense category, including serious offenses, shows that DJJs reform initiatives are working, said Interim Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Christina Daly. Our department made a commitment to transforming our states juvenile justice system to provide the right services to Floridas youth while remaining focused on increasing public safety. While we are proud of the work weve done, this is only the beginning of what our agency, along with our many stakeholders, can accomplish.