Help us provide youth in trouble with a chance at a successful future
Division of Youth Services (DYS) currently uses eight secure facilities across the state to confine juveniles, including juveniles with mental, cognitive, physical and sensory disabilities, who have been adjudicated delinquent and committed to DYS' care. About 620 youth a year are committed to DYS with the average stay about 6 months.
For the past several years, DRC has been working to find solutions to the numerous and multi-faceted problems youth in these secure facilities experience each day. DRC collaborated with the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL), Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, the Public Defender Ombudsman, and the DYS Taskforce to promote positive development of youth placed in the secure facilities by DYS.
DRC and NCYL hired national experts to review the conditions of confinement at the Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center (Alexander). What the experts concluded and other states have already concluded is that large facilities don't work for youth and what is needed in our state is A New Vision for Youth. A vision that includes a continuum of services for troubled youth, including prevention, increased community based treatment options and smaller secure treatment facilities for the few youth needing intensive treatment options.
In September 2007, the experts' conclusion and the possible solutions were presented to the Governor, the legislature, DYS, and Arkansas citizens when their report was released to the media.. (See experts' full report at link below).
What has occurred since September 2007? To keep up with the efforts so far click Efforts Are Already Underway.
KARN Ask the Governor call-in show - October 12, 2007
Listen to Governor Beebe as he explains how he is going to address the problems going on in our juvenile justice system. (mp3)
DRC Abuse Investigations
- November 1, 2007 - DRC releases its latest Investigation Report on the State's various child welfare systems, which demonstrates how the lack of collaboration within the State's various child welfare systems can, through ineffective treatment, lead to the continued abuse and neglect of children within the State's custody.
- April 20, 2007 - Preliminary report of the findings and recommendations of DRC regarding two allegations of physical abuse of DRC's client.
- March 20, 2007 - DRC's ongoing investigation of an allegation of abuse of a fourteen year old African American male with mental illness.
- November 5, 2006 - "It's Not Punishment, It's Rehabilitation", A Report on the Conditions at the Alexander Youth Services Center.
Division of Youth Services (DYS)
Juvenile courts in Arkansas adjudicate and commit juveniles to the Department of Human Services (DHS), Division of Youth Services (DYS). Read more about DYS Responsibilities mandated by law.
- May, 2008 - Juvenile Justice Reform In Arkansas: Building a Better Future for Youth, their Families, and the Community. A report in collaboration with the Arkansas Division of Youth Services, by Pat Arthur and Tim Roche.
- January 26, 2008 - Three fired at Alexander after scuffle and attempted coverup.
- January 25, 2008 - Alexander center earns national accreditation after 3-day inspection.
- January 17, 2008 - A memorandum of understanding is signed between the National Center for Youth Law and the Arkansas Department of Human Services Department of Youth Services.
- January 7, 2008 - DYS budget for fiscal year 2007.
- December 26, 2007 - Results are released on the Commission on Accreditation for Corrections Standards Compliance Initial Audit, performed November 14-16, 2007.
- October 2, 2007 - Disability Rights Center Outraged about Plans to Expand Beds at Alexander
- September 18, 2007 - DRC releases the recommendations for reforming the state's juvenile justice system, entitled "Conditions of Confinement at the Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center".
- August 10, 2007 - DYS reply to Arkansas Department of Education containing the Corrective Action Plan (CAP) for six of the eight areas DYS was found to be in noncompliance.
- June 29, 2007 - DYS Internal Audit Report
- June 8, 2007 - Letter to DYS with results of the official monitoring of the special education program at the Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center by the Arkansas Department of Education.
- April 2007 - Group 4 Securicor (G4S) study of the intake and assessment process at Alexander
- December 2006, - KMD Report, State of Arkansas DYS Juvenile Operational & Facilities Master Plan (78p, 3.8Mb)
- Fiscal Year 2006 - Approximate cost of state spending on commitments to DYS facilities
- March 10, 2006 - Risk assessment and classification report of DYS by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency.
- United States of America v. State of Arkansas, the Arkansas Division of Youth Services and the Department of Human Services, Court Ordered Settlement, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, 2002.
In addition, the Private Corrections Insitute has documented the culture of abuse at the Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center (AJATC), and other facilities in Arkansas, dating back to 2000 in their Arkansas Hall of Shame. They have also assembled a rap sheet on the worldwide activities of Group 4 / Securicor, the private company currently contracted with the State of Arkansas to administer the AJATC facility in Alexander.
Legislation
- June 9,2008 - "Alabama Enacts New Juvenile Justice Act" In May 2008 Alabama's Governor signed into law the Alabama Juvenile Justice Act of 2008 which will reduce reliance on juvenile incarceration and expand community-based alternatives. Child advocates, including the Alabama P&A worked with state and local leaders on this 245-page legislation for three years. An analysis is available online: http://www.alacourt.gov/pdfppt/AJJA2008rev1108.pdf
- March 28, 2007 - Senate Resolution 31, REQUESTING A STUDY FOR WAYS TO IMPROVE THE STATE'S JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM FOR YOUTH, is introduced to the Arkansas General Assembly by Senator Broadway.
Juvenile Justice News
- September, 2008 - Every young person leaving Washington state's Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration residential care needs and receives a period of structured transition and services when they return to family and community. They call this service Functional Family Parole (FFP).
- July, 2008 - The State of Missouri has developed the most widely respected juvenile system for rehabilitating youth in residential facilities. It has a low recidivism rate and has received national recognition.
- July, 2008 - A new report explores 6 JJ programs that use positive youth-development principles to improve their intervention approaches.
Plat of the Alexander property
A Note About "PDF"
Many of the documents available on our website are in Portable Document Format ( "pdf") which uses the freely available Adobe Acrobat Reader software to view. If you need it, you can download Acrobat reader from the Adobe website.
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