Wyoming has the nation's second-highest rate of children in custody, and nearly three quarters of those young people are being held for nonviolent offenses, according to figures released today.

The 2008 Kids Count report shows Wyoming's rate of detained and committed youth in custody at 334 per 100,000 children. Nationally, that figure stood at 125.

Only South Dakota had a higher rate of youth in custody.

The numbers, which were included in a report that charted several key indicators for child well-being, reflects the Cowboy State's lack of alternatives to adult jail and juvenile detention centers for young offenders, experts say. As a result, Wyoming youth sometimes end up in jail for offenses like possessing cigarettes or running away from home.

"What is happening is we don't have the options for kids, and that's part of the reason they are ending up in jail instead of a diversionary program," said Deanna Frey, executive director of Wyoming Children's Action Alliance.

Some parts of the state do have programs that offer alternatives to incarceration. But in other counties, law enforcement officers don't have any option but jail for young offenders.

"That is what attorneys are telling us, that is what judges are telling us," Frey said, "that they don't have an alternative."

Frey and others say the numbers are indicative of a lack of leadership and planning on the issue of juvenile justice in the state. Wyoming is the only state that does not comply with the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, which sets federal rules for juvenile detention.

"It means we've got some work to do here," Frey said. "There are several issues at play here. One of biggest issues is we don't have statewide plan. We've had study after study in our state, but we haven't got to implementation. We need someone to take a leadership role."

Last month, Gov. Dave Freudenthal tapped District Judge Gary Hartman as a special advisor on juvenile justice issues, tasked with evaluating and improving the state's system. Hartman said Wednesday he hadn't yet seen the Kids Count data.

The report, which used 2006 data and counted children ages 10 to 15, found that an estimated 315 young people were in custody each day in Wyoming.

The data shows Wyoming is not just locking up more young people that other states. The report also found that 74 percent of children who were in custody in 2006 were being held for nonviolent offenses. The national average was 66 percent.

Beth Evans, a consultant for the Wyoming County Commissioners Association's Juvenile Justice Project, called the numbers atrocious.

"We are spending a lot of money putting kids in secure detention," she said. "Wouldn't that money be better spent addressing their needs?"

Putting youth into custody has more than financial implications, Evans explained. Detention centers and jails are places where children learn how to become better criminals.

"You put a kid in secure detention, and you are already upping the chance they will re-enter the detention system," she said.

Early intervention in a child's own community would lead to less Wyoming youth in custody, said state Rep. Kathryn Sessions, D-Cheyenne.

"We should be very concerned because we are losing kids we don't have to lose," she said. "There will always be those, that for whatever reason, we need detention centers. But we feel, and research tells us …. we could cut that detention stuff 50 percent if our communities would just commit to help our kids when they first show up in the courts."

One of the issues facing the Wyoming juvenile justice system is the state's four youth detention centers - in Cheyenne, Casper, Lander and Rock Springs - are often a great distance away from a young offender's hometown, said Department of Family Services spokeswoman Juliette Rule.

"There goes your family support and your community support," she said. "That's not restorative."

Legislators this year approved a bill that allowed for the creation of community juvenile services boards that would decide how to best serve local youth.

The Kids Count report comes less than a month after a Department of Family Services investigation found that an inmate at the juvenile detention center in Casper was sexually assaulted and that staff and supervisors did not properly report the incident to the facility's administrators or the state. The investigation also found that staff had made juvenile inmate clean up blood and vomit in exchange for rewards like soda pop.

A Colorado company has recently taken over operations of the detention center and its officials say it has made changes to how the facility is run.

Reach Joshua Wolfson at (307) 266-0582 or at josh.wolfson@trib.com.