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Juvenile detention center reopens
By Jolene Guzman, Staff Writer
Thursday, August 07, 2008 | No comments posted.
Coos County’s Juvenile Detention Center’s Youth Care Center soon will be back in business. The Oregon Youth Authority has agreed to once again place juvenile offenders in the program.
The Coos County commissioners approved restarting the program at their meeting Wednesday.
The Youth Care Center is a 90-day program in which juvenile offenders get counseling and work toward high school diplomas or General Education Development certificates.
The state stopped referring teens to the program in April, even though about $38,000 remained on the department’s contract with OYA. At the time, the county’s budget woes fanned state fears that detention would be shut down due to lack of funding. OYA wanted to hold off referrals until the county stabilized the department’s budget, Coos County Commissioner Nikki Whitty said. The department didn’t suffer the same magnitude of cuts it did in 2007, and detention still is operating.
Now, the Youth Care Center can, too.
The remaining money on the contract will allow the state to put six kids through the program.
Whitty, the juvenile department liaison, pushed for the county and state to restart the program.
“It’s money coming in, instead of going out,” Coos County Commissioner John Griffith said.
The benefits are more than just financial, Whitty said. The program gets children off the streets and into rehabilitation and educational classes. The Youth Care Center requires the offender and staff make a list of goals for the child’s time in at the detention center. Classes and counseling are structured to meet those goals.
“Nearly all of them make it,” Whitty said. “The 90 days ... really seems to make a difference in their lives.”
Juvenile Department Business Operations Manager Maurita Burkleo said most of the kids referred to the Coos County facility are local, either from Coos or Curry counties. The facility can take two referrals at a time.
With the renewed business, the county is changing how the program operates somewhat.
The county will assign a staff member to manage the center and write plans with the teens’ help to monitor how each is progressing. In the past, the job has been full time.
“The one requirement is that the individual have a bachelor’s degree,” she said.
One person on the department staff is qualified to take the position, Burkleo said. Whoever does take the responsibility may still have to work regular shifts in the detention center, preferably swing shift when there is the most opportunity to work with kids.
The department won’t necessarily lose staff time in detention, once the manager is selected. The commissioners have agreed to fill a vacant juvenile counselor position in the department. Still, the department needs to figure if it can mesh the job of counselor and program manager into one position before any referrals are taken.
“There’s no tentative start date,” Burkleo said.
Whitty said the juvenile department employees are willing to be flexible to make get the program going again.
“That staff believes in the program so strongly that they would do whatever it takes to make it work,” she said.
The Coos County commissioners approved restarting the program at their meeting Wednesday.
The Youth Care Center is a 90-day program in which juvenile offenders get counseling and work toward high school diplomas or General Education Development certificates.
The state stopped referring teens to the program in April, even though about $38,000 remained on the department’s contract with OYA. At the time, the county’s budget woes fanned state fears that detention would be shut down due to lack of funding. OYA wanted to hold off referrals until the county stabilized the department’s budget, Coos County Commissioner Nikki Whitty said. The department didn’t suffer the same magnitude of cuts it did in 2007, and detention still is operating.
Now, the Youth Care Center can, too.
The remaining money on the contract will allow the state to put six kids through the program.
Whitty, the juvenile department liaison, pushed for the county and state to restart the program.
“It’s money coming in, instead of going out,” Coos County Commissioner John Griffith said.
The benefits are more than just financial, Whitty said. The program gets children off the streets and into rehabilitation and educational classes. The Youth Care Center requires the offender and staff make a list of goals for the child’s time in at the detention center. Classes and counseling are structured to meet those goals.
“Nearly all of them make it,” Whitty said. “The 90 days ... really seems to make a difference in their lives.”
Juvenile Department Business Operations Manager Maurita Burkleo said most of the kids referred to the Coos County facility are local, either from Coos or Curry counties. The facility can take two referrals at a time.
With the renewed business, the county is changing how the program operates somewhat.
The county will assign a staff member to manage the center and write plans with the teens’ help to monitor how each is progressing. In the past, the job has been full time.
“The one requirement is that the individual have a bachelor’s degree,” she said.
One person on the department staff is qualified to take the position, Burkleo said. Whoever does take the responsibility may still have to work regular shifts in the detention center, preferably swing shift when there is the most opportunity to work with kids.
The department won’t necessarily lose staff time in detention, once the manager is selected. The commissioners have agreed to fill a vacant juvenile counselor position in the department. Still, the department needs to figure if it can mesh the job of counselor and program manager into one position before any referrals are taken.
“There’s no tentative start date,” Burkleo said.
Whitty said the juvenile department employees are willing to be flexible to make get the program going again.
“That staff believes in the program so strongly that they would do whatever it takes to make it work,” she said.
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