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Number Of Juvenile Sex Offenders Drops

The number of juvenile sex offenders in the Ohio system has decreased by 17 percent over a three-year period, according to the state agency responsible for overseeing youth.

Officials are crediting community-based treatment efforts - designed to deliver more effective rehabilitation and save money - for the decline.  The Ohio Department of Youth Services reported that the average daily facility population for youth services dropped to 730 in 2011 from 1,293 in 2009. As of July, the 2012 daily average was 567. Spokesperson Kimberlee Parsell says the state's collaboration with community partners, in place since 2008, is the main reason. She says that system is better able to provide appropriate services for youth by matching risk level with the least-restrictive setting. 

A native of Chicago, naturalized citizen of Cincinnati and resident of Columbus, Alison attended Earlham College and the Ohio State University. She has equal passion for Midwest history, hockey and Slavic poetry.