EXETER, N.H. (AP) – Federal funding ends Monday for a police housing program for juveniles, leaving Seacoast law enforcement agencies wondering how to fill the gap.

For 17 years, the Exeter Police Department provided temporary shelter for juveniles through its Youth Attendant Program, taking in teens picked up by police in surrounding towns and the Rockingham County Sheriff’s department.

Federal money administered by the state paid for round-the-clock police supervision, meals and a room in the police station library furnished with a bed, games, TV, movies, a microwave and refrigerator. Children under 17 who had not been charged with crimes might spend a night or weekend there before appearing before a judge, who would decide what to do with them.

Police said they recently learned the grant for the program will end Oct. 1.

Kevin Smith, senior policy manager for the Division for Juvenile Justice Services, said cuts in federal funding forced the state to put more restrictions on grants. Two years ago, the state began requiring police departments to show how their programs would become self-supporting. Smith said the state decided to cut the final year of Exeter’s three-year grant because it was not persuaded police had a plan in place to sustain the program on its own.

Local police say the decision is a blow.

“We’ve provided for any community that’s asked,” said Exeter Lt. Steve Dockery. “It’s a great alternative to throwing a kid in a cell and forgetting them.”

Local officials say Exeter’s program provided youth housing for police from as many as 19 communities.

“By not having this program, it puts all of us in a bind. If we pick up a juvenile on Friday night and have to watch him until Monday, there’s substantial overtime costs for the town of Exeter. If Stratham picks up a runaway from South Carolina and has to hold him for the weekend, that’s an enormous cost,” Dockery said.

Portsmouth Police took advantage of Exeter’s program about six times a year. Now officers are searching for an alternative. Capt. Janet Camplin said she is looking for spare beds at children’s homes in Portsmouth and Dover, which police would have to pay for.

“It’s really been helpful to have that there,” she said of the Exeter program.

—

Information from: Portsmouth Herald, http://www.seacoastonline.com

AP-ES-09-30-07 1303EDT