ALBANY — Gov. David Paterson is setting up a special task force to examine ways to improve the state’s beleaguered juvenile justice system.

Paterson is asking the panel to examine alternatives to institutional placement and find ways to assist the re-entry of children into the community.

New York’s juvenile justice system currently serves nearly 1,900 children — mostly minorities — but nearly 80 percent who go through the system are arrested again within three years. And the U.S. Justice Department is investigating conditions at the Tryon facility in Fulton County.

The panel chaired by John Jay College of Criminal Justice President Jeremy Travis includes national, state and local experts from law enforcement, academia, government and community-based organizations.