According to David Katner, contributing author to the soon to be published book Children, Law and Disasters, compiled by the Center for Children, Law and Policy, there are a number of juvenile justice lessons to be learned.

Katner postulates that the post-Katrina New Orleans juvenile justice system required some new approaches in how the system is structured and utilized.  One approach he offers for consideration is to rethink the juvenile justice system in terms of a public health problem.  According to Katner, this may help to introduce intervention services for high-risk juveniles.  He also suggests adopting universal daycare to reduce delinquency and recidivism rates.

While these theories certainly have merit, can they be applied in the wake of Ike?  What is clear is that Galveston and surrounding municipalities have much to do to recover from Ike.  During this process of structural rebuilding, will the opportunity be taken to “rebuild” the current juvenile system?  Will the system take advantage of the proverbial “clean slate” and try to improve itself, or will it settle back into the comfortable, if not flawed, system for juvenile offenders?  Might Katner’s suggestions be put into practice?

It seems that the perfect time to take a good, hard look at a system that may be in need of repair, is when the city surrounding it is in the process of repair.  This requires some tough questions and a new perspective, but why not start with a clean slate?