AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills has vetoed the bill that would have closed Long Creek Youth Development Center and redirected funding to community services for at-risk youth.
Mills says the bill is "fundamentally flawed because it forces the closure of the State's only secure confinement option for juvenile offenders before safe and appropriate alternatives will be available."
"If this bill were to become law, Maine would become the only state in the nation without a secure facility to serve the needs of youth who require detention for some period because they represent a risk to themselves or others in the course of their rehabilitation," Mills said in a statement after the veto. "Responsible juvenile justice reform also takes into account the needs of public safety."
In response, Ladi Nzeyimana, youth organizer with Maine Youth Justice, said in a press release, "Governor Mills had the power to end the nightmare that young people in Long Creek are experiencing by creating a plan to close Long Creek and invest in a safe and healthy future for our young people." Nzeyimana added, "Governor Mills had the opportunity to shift the punitive and violent tradition of the criminal system and chose to maintain the status quo."
Mills says the Department of Corrections is making improvements in juvenile justice by "shifting $6 million in DOC's juvenile budgetary resources to community-based programs and services; opening two community-based residences, one for boys and one for girls, as transitional living options for youth returning home after a stay at the Long Creek Youth Development Center (Long Creek); and shifting funding for 14 vacant positions assigned to Long Creek to programs that promote restorative justice, deliver therapy and other wrap-around services, and establish youth advocacy and mentorship programs. DOC has also reworked training curricula and certification standards to provide new focus on adolescent brain development, adolescent trauma, mental health and substance abuse counseling, suicide prevention, and cultural competency, with particular attention to youth of color and LGBTQIA youth."
Last week, Maine senators passed the bill to close Maine's only youth prison within two years. The bill, presented by Rep. Grayson Lookner, D-Portland, passed in a 19-15 vote. The House passed the bill in an 81-57 vote.
Mills says there are currently 31 people detained in the facility, which is designed to hold up to 200.
According to Rep. Charlotte Warren, D-Hallowell, co-chair of the Legislature’s Criminal Justice Committee, it's costing over $660,000 per year, per child.
NEWS CENTER Maine's Jackie Mundry will have more on this story.