Friday, May 29, 2009, marked a historic milestone in the District’s Juvenile Justice system with the shuttering, once and for all of the infamous Oak Hill Youth Center, in Laurel, MD, and the opening of the New Beginnings Youth Center, just half a mile away.  The Washington Post had an article about it on the front page of the Metro section here.

The New Beginnings Opening Ceremony was hosted by Mayor Adrian Fenty and Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services Director Vincent Schiraldi, and was followed by a tour of the new state of the art secure juvenile detention facility.  The article contains a description of the sordid history of Oak Hill, as well as the challenges facing the District juvenile justice system as we move forward.

[UPDATE, 6/1/09, 8:35 a.m.]: As many read on Sunday, with the escape of one detainee over the weekend, Councilmember Tommy Wells will be holding a public roundtable on the security and procedures for the new facility this week, in addition to the issue abscondance at DYRS in general, within the next two weeks. As soon as it scheduled, we will post that information online.