COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- The director of the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice warns that budget cuts could bring down many of the improvements made in an agency once sued by the federal government because it treated children so badly.
DJJ Director Bill Byars has been given permission to run a deficit this budget year. But he told The Post and Courier of Charleston that if cuts keep coming, juvenile prisons may start overcrowding with more repeat offenders.
Byars says a 25 percent reduction in his budget threatens programs like one that provides intensive supervision for juveniles as they re-enter society.
Byars ended a decade-long court battle with the federal government six years ago by making juvenile prisons less violent and treating the incarcerated children better.
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