Last One Over the Wall: The Massachusetts Experiment in Closing Reform Schools

by Jerome G. Miller

Last One over the Wall is an analytical and autobiographical account of Jerome G. Miller's tenure as head of the Massachusetts juvenile justice system, during which he undertook one of the most daring and drastic steps in recent juvenile justice history -- he closed reformatories and returned offenders to community supervision and treatment by private schools and youth agencies. Filled with insights into juvenile and adult behavior in prison and outside, Miller's account provides a rare opportunity to view our juvenile justice system as a whole, including all the politics, economics, and social biases that come with it. In a new preface for this edition, the author reflects on his decision of seven years ago and the lessons learned from it.

Genres: Nonfiction, Social Justice

279 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1991

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This amazing book should be read by every citizen! (Okay, I know not everyone will read this - but the creativity and the imagination and the analysis of the author is amazing). The author recounts his time as head of reform schools in Massachusetts. At the beginning he notes, after visiting his schools, that they are actually making people worse. After trying a series of reforms that don't work he takes the radical step of closing the reform schools and sending the young people home. This is that story and it is amazing.

[Paul O'Leary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liberal democratic state decides to close its juvenile detention centers so it might release its committed youth back into the community. Surprising to anyone?? Well, according to Jerome Miller, it should be because it simply couldn't happen that way. Miller explains why in his memoir, Last One Over the Wall. Miller was appointed by a republican governor, Francis Sargent, to run the Department of Youth Services in Massachusetts in 1969. Miller's appointment almost couldn't happen as jobs of that caliber, as well as most others of descending importance, were allotted through patronage & political favors. Traditionally, the top job at DYS would go to someone well-thought of, or at least well-connected in the Massachusetts Democratic Party. These, however, were not traditional times. Miller was brought in from outside the state to reform a section of Massachusetts state government that defied any and all attempts at genuine reform. Reform for Massachusetts' state government almost never meant actual change of existing institutions, but rather additions, such as building new facilities, hiring new personnel, and creating new contracts for favored vendors with taxpayer dollars. Reform meant monies spent for optimal political advantage. Problems inherent to the dynamic of the institute itself, in this case physical abuse, barbaric punishments and stultifying routines, were virtually unsolvable. Whenever Miller attempted to abolish any of the above, employees of the affected institution would allow some youth to escape to draw public attention to the "lenient" ways of the new management. Miller perceptively understood that any changes accomplished in the institutions would only last as long as he controlled DYS. As Miller ruffled the feathers of patronage and corruption, creating more bad press and an antagonistic legislature, he knew his days were numbered. Pressure on Sargent would eventually mean his dismissal and a return to the same ol' same. Fearful that any progress in creating a more humane DYS would be undone, Miller undertook his only perceivable option for creating lasting change: closing the problematic institutions themselves. This he managed to do, but not without ample friction, internal and external. Eventually he would leave Massachusetts for calmer state pastures, but his legacy had been established. He accomplished the unaccomplishable. He instituted genuine reform through deinstitutionalization. Miller admits to some rashness on his part. Community supervision wasn't where it should have been to adequately ensure public safety. Luck followed Miller during the transitions, keeping matters difficult, but not impossible. Miller also relied on numerous small vendors to provide community care for the newly released youths. Some were better than others, Miller freely admits. After Miller's departure, some re-institutionalization took place. This was limited, although, by the space taken up by private institutions which refused to relinquish their newly acquired state funding. Yet the focus on monitoring and servicing youth in the community remains the mandate of DYS to this day. Miller saw himself as something of a modern Hippocrates, first setting out to do no harm(or as little as possible), before attempting possible curative methods. Undoubtedly, the age was ready for his reforms, whether it knew it or not, or whether it even knew it was sick. This is a great book for those who believe genuine change in government is impossible.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for anyone interested in political and bureaucratic barriers to institutional reform.