(The Center Square) – The Caddo Parish Commission launched an effort to curb juvenile crime and promptly sought clarification on a recent increase in the number of young females being detained at Shreveport’s juvenile detention center.
The question arose on Thursday during its juvenile justice committee meeting. Local experts were asked to provide updates about support programs for young offenders. Their work focused on addressing Shreveport’s youth crime problem.
Commissioner John-Paul Young chairs the committee and has been vocal about the need to reduce the crime rate “by giving them more constructive things to do and better guidance.” Young has announced his candidacy for the Shreveport mayoral race in November.
Caddo District Attorney James Stewart released a letter last year drawing attention to an uptick in criminal activity among teen girls and young women. He attributed that rise to the loss of youth support services and the negative influence of social media.
Andrew Randall, director of Juvenile Services, reports that there were 422 total admissions during 2025. About 32% of them were females – 132 girls and 290 males. In 2021, females accounted for 16% of cases, rising to 24% in 2022, dropping back to 21% in 2023, and climbing again to 24% in 2024.
“Overall admissions are lower but a greater percentage are female,” Randall said.
Following a 36% rise in 2023 over the previous year, custody admissions have declined each of the last two years. The 24-bed facility houses children ages 10-17.
“There’s a lot of conversation about the types of crimes that are committed by juveniles,” Randall said. “I can give you the top five reasons for admissions for 2025.”
Simple burglary was the top unlawful activity, followed by illegal possession of a handgun, domestic abuse battery, theft of a motor vehicle and youth who have run away.
“We do believe that juvenile justice is rehabilitative, so we have striven to make our detention center not only punitive, but we also have developed means in there to try to make it rehabilitative,” he said.
The discussion turned to charging juveniles as adults for serious crimes like murder or rape. In Louisiana, that provision applies to teens ages 15 and up.
“The district attorney’s office makes the charging decision … so we no longer have anything to do with that prosecution when that happens,” Randall said.
The commission is responsible for funding the juvenile detention center, Caddo Correctional Center, district attorney’s office and other law-related departments. Criminal justice expenditures account for 27% of its $146 million budget, including a $4 million deficit in the juvenile justice fund, according to the budget.
Buck Magee highlighted the Joint Council on Children’s Health, impressing the commission, which now intends to pursue a potential partnership. If that partnership is established, it would replace the commission’s youth planning board, established in 2023 but no longer operating.
“When children struggle, systems feel it,” Magee said. “Schools, health care, juvenile justice, workforce development, public safety.”
Four Shreveport ZIP codes fall below the 10 percentile of median household income in Louisiana, 38% of children under the age of 5 are living in poverty, fewer than 25% of incoming kindergarten students demonstrate minimum readiness skills and more than 50% of sixth and eighth graders report serious symptoms of depression, Magee told commissioners.
“The data tells us we have work to do,” he said.
The Joint Council on Children’s Health is a collaborative initiative hosted at LSU Health Shreveport focused on developing a strategic plan to improve the health and well-being of children. It includes leaders in health, education, business, social services, juvenile justice, mental health, faith, arts and athletics.
“Every child in Caddo Parish deserves a childhood that is safe, stable and nurturing,” Magee said.
