It has had its fits and starts, but city officials say Rochester's year-old youth curfew program is beginning to do what they hoped it would. And Mayor Bob Duffy is asking City Council to extend the program through September 4, 2008.

City Council is expected to vote on Duffy's request at its August 21 meeting.

Under the curfew, young people ages 16 and younger can't be on the streets between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and between midnight and 5 a.m. Friday and Saturday unless there is good reason: that they are attending a sanctioned event, for example, or are with an adult.

Duffy first said that data for the first year showed a decline in youth arrests and victimization during curfew hours. But after finding a flaw in the data, officials revised that report: there was basically no change, they said.

City Councilmember Adam McFadden, who at one point had criticized the current program, says he's satisfied that his concerns are being addressed. McFadden was an early promoter of a youth curfew, but he had insisted that it include participation by social-service providers. The curfew's purpose, he said, should be to find young people who need help and get that help to them.

There are still questions. City officials said last week that there had been a decline in both youth crime and victimization during the curfew period. This week, they said the data had been flawed; while youth crime did decline, they said, the number of youths victimized stayed about the same as before the curfew. And no one's sure whether it's the curfew that led to the decline in youth crimes. An earlier study showed that crime among all ages had declined.

What the research does provide, however, is a better look at youths who are out late at night without adult supervision. For instance, 44 percent of the youths who violated the curfew were under 15. The curfew violators were also out late: 46 percent were stopped by police after 1 a.m.

From September 5, 2006, through August 2, 2007, police have made contact with 323 youths, the majority of them boys. Of those, 110 were transported to Hillside Children's Center, 105 were taken home, and the others were warned to go home.

There had also been the question of what to do with youths who violate the curfew - whether services were available to help them. McFadden says there are.

The problem, says McFadden, is that "we haven't had as many parents taking advantage of them as we would like." Some parents were awakened in the middle of the night "and they just want to get their kids back home," says McFadden. "That's their first impulse." Other parents weren't worried about the curfew violation, viewing it as an isolated incident.

Of more concern, says McFadden, are children from homes with serious family problems.

McFadden tells of one young boy who recently spent the night in a local emergency room, telling hospital staff that he was waiting there because his mother was having emergency surgery.

"After some digging, they found out that his mother wasn't having surgery," says McFadden. "There was a fire in his home and his mother was moved to an emergency shelter, and he didn't know where that was."

Getting parents to take greater advantage of the services may take further enforcement, says McFadden. And the city is pursuing a grant to hire a parent liaison.

"We may want to consider a fine, and parents wouldn't have to pay the fine if they pursued services," he says.

McFadden also says he is confident that the curfew has had a positive influence on reducing crime.

"If you have fewer children out on the street after hours, it stands to reason that there will be less crime against children," he says. "I don't think you can say this is the result of different police tactics. I think this is about the message getting out there that young people, after certain times of night, are supposed to be at home with their families."

Councilmember Bill Pritchard said late last week that he was inclined to support the curfew even if the data is not conclusive.

"I'm approaching this as if the mayor is asking for a one year extension only, not as if this will become an ongoing thing, because there is a high cost involved," he said. "I am willing to agree that the curfew is a positive influence, but I don't know that we are ever going to establish to what extent. And I would rather err on the side of having the curfew."