By Francisco Miraval

DENVER – The disproportionate number of Hispanics in Utah’s programs for juvenile delinquents could be tied to the cancelation of educational programs for those youths and their families.

Tony Yapias, founder of Proyecto Latino de Utah, said that the latest statistics on education and poverty in the state show the impact of cutbacks on programs aimed at aiding minorities, young people and the poor.

“This continual disinterest of the government towards our young people aggravates one of our biggest social problems, which is the high rate of juvenile delinquency directly related to the high percentage of school dropouts among Latinos, which makes our young people more likely to commit crime,” Yapias told Efe.

A report by the Voice for Utah Children organization shows that the state’s population has one of the highest percentages of minors in the country, with 34 percent of its 2.7 million inhabitants under 19 years of age.

But the state spends three times more, almost $140 million, on programs related to juvenile delinquency, than on educational programs for children from low-income families.

That use of public money particularly hurts the Hispanic community, since according to the National Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center for the Education of Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-Risk, around 33 percent of the almost 34,000 minors in Utah that in 2007 took part in correctional programs for young people were Hispanics.

Yet only 12 percent of the state population is of Hispanic origin, and a little less than 10 percent of the students in public schools are Hispanic immigrants.

For Yapias, cuts in the educational budget mean “not enough programs exist that could keep young people from getting into serious trouble.”

“And the educational programs that exist are already full and have no room for anyone else, so parents and their children are left without any resources in a social vacuum that eventually lands the youngsters in juvenile court,” he said.

Patricia Quijano Dark, president of the Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and a teacher at a bilingual school in Salt Lake City, said that “more attention has to be given to schools and to creating solid educational structures for our children, because that way not so much money would have to be spent on delinquents.”

She added that the problem is not related to the language that the kids and their parents speak at home, but to the opportunities those young students and their families have of taking part in educational programs “without being marginalized.”

“Spending money on juvenile delinquency programs is like putting a little bandage on a broken arm or leg. If kids get into antisocial conduct, it’s already too late, unless they have strong mentors to guide them,” Quijano Dark said.

The alternative, she said, is that “from the time they’re little they develop a love of learning and the joy of living, thanks to good examples, excellent teachers, loving parents and concerned mentors.”

Janis Dubno, analyst for Voices for Utah Children, said that “it would have been a better investment to spend money on nurturing little children, because then the government would save money by not having to spend it later on rehab programs or social aid.”

Voices said in a recent report that most educational programs are for students from 6 to 12 years of age, with comparatively little funding for education in infant and preschool programs.

Yapias said that the combined lack of educational resources for poor families and Utah’s growing poverty and unemployment “are creating such a level of tension between Hispanic parents that they can’t even think about what’s happening to their own kids.”

“People are very hopeful that things will get better soon, but I often find families sleeping in their cars because they have no work. The children of those families are at risk, and what they need is education and not more jail cells,” Yapias said. EFE