Tommy Blog Oversight for DYRS Juvenile Offender Placements | Oversight for DYRS Juvenile Offender Placements |
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| Written by Ram Uppuluri | |
| Thursday, 29 November 2007 | |
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As Chairman of the Committee on Human Services, Tommy is responsible for oversight of the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS), the District’s lead juvenile justice agency. If a youth is convicted as a juvenile for committing a crime in the District of Columbia, the judge can do one of two things – she can formally “commit” the youth to the jurisdiction of DYRS, basically without any terms or conditions; or, sentence the youth to “probation,” in which case the youth stays under the jurisdiction of the Court until the youth has satisfied its terms and conditions. Currently, there are about 600 youth committed to the jurisdiction of DYRS, and approximately 1,500 youth on probation and under the supervision of the Superior Court’s Court Social Services division. A small percentage (less than 30%) of the youth committed to the jurisdiction of DYRS are confined to a detention or treatment facility – the rest are in community-based placements, either living at home, with a relative, or in a group home. They are supposed to be under the supervision of a case manager, or social worker, to help make sure they stay out of trouble and in school, to help identify resources the youth will need in order to succeed in life, and to make sure the youth takes advantage of those services. In most cases, the decision to release a youth from their commitment to DYRS is up to the agency itself, as is the decision to pull a youth back into secure detention if the circumstances warrant. Sometimes, the decision to place a youth in the community can go bad, as has been chronicled in a series of Saturday morning opinion pieces in the Washington Post by columnist Colbert King. And when they do go bad, the consequences can be dire. As Chairman of the Human Services Committee, Tommy has called an oversight hearing for next Tuesday, December 4, at 2 p.m., to ask a series of questions to the leadership of DYRS, such as: What goes into the decision making process to place a youth in the community after he or she has been convicted of committing a crime? How is that youth held accountable for his or her actions? How is public safety taken into account in the decision to place a youth in the community? What about the safety of the youths themselves? Once youth are placed in the community, what are you doing to keep them out of trouble, and to improve their chances of success in life? What opportunities do members of the general public have on an ongoing basis to provide input to the policies and practices of DYRS? The Committee would welcome your participation in the hearing. Readers have left 3 comments. (1) Untitled 2007-12-02 12:00:45 Finally, Many current and former employees have expressed concern about the placement and procedures that go into releasing our youth back into the community. It is outrages that the agency has sole in put on when a youth is ready to go back into the community. It should be a joint effort that include every member of the juvenile system from YCO's to social workers. The council continues to praise the reduction in population of oakhill by Mr. Schiraldi but lets look deeper than population, lets look at outragious rate of recidivism, the awful educational system being provided, the placement of youths into community based programs who just are not ready. There has yet to be a meaningful mental based programs to deal with the issues of many of the kids. Hopefully Mr. Wells takes his responsibility to public safety and the well being of the youths more seriously than the current administration. Rehabilitation has not ever been thought of just reducing population at any means, and it has proved to be very dangerous to the community and deadly to our youths (2) Untitled 2007-12-02 21:08:05 Finally, many current and former employees of DYRS has expressed concerns about many of the issues that were listed above. The articles by Mr.King has further pointed out the lack of leadership of the administration. How does one man make the determination of the readiness of a troubled youth. Where is the collaboration of all involved. Power is dangerous and needs to be monitored. Not only has the public trust been abused but the youths have been disregarded as merely a number. (3) Untitled 2007-12-09 10:50:05 Now is the time for more residents to take an active interest in our young people. Not only interest in the schools, but also in our justice system and our community...Too many folks thing Not in my backyard) but we are the adults...all kids are our responsibility..attend PSA meetings ie Dec. 13th PSA 104 meets at Harbour Square, 500 N St. SW 7pm. Sometimes we have more police than residents of our community at these meetings.
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