Division of Juvenile Services Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Law Enforcement, Community Organizers Meet to Discuss Juvenile Justice Reform

Juvenile justice reform brought law enforcement and community organizers together last week in Charleston. The discussion focused on a diversion program for juvenile offenders in Florida that could be an example for communities in West Virginia.

The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia hosted the talk. Dewey Caruthers spoke about a program he facilitated in Florida that issues civil citations — instead of arrests.

“The mission is to use juvenile civil citations to increase public safety, improve youth outcomes and save taxpayer money.”

Dewey Caruthers spoke about a program he facilitated in Florida that issues civil citations — instead of arrests.

Caruthers says the civil citation programs can reduce the number of children who go on to commit another crime. They see if people need treatment for addiction or other mental-health issues, and help them build life skills, and undergo community service, instead of just being locked away.

Stephanie Bond is director of the West Virginia Division of Juvenile Services, and she attended the discussion. She said it’s important that more people who commit crimes actually develop a trust for the justice system — and not feel betrayed.

“If they feel that they were treated fairly by the police, the court system, you’ll see rates go down. If they feel that they were being mistreated or treated unfairly, there’s a greater chance for them to re-offend,” said Bond.

The National Institute of Corrections released a study in 2008 that supports that theory- that the perception offenders have of how they were treated by the justice system can affect recidivism rates.

Bond said she thinks the idea of civil citation programs is an interesting concept, and she thinks West Virginians could benefit from any program that helps reduce the number of children who are pulled away from their homes.

Corrections Officers Participate in Grueling Training

As a prerequisite to working in the state’s prisons corrections officers have to spend time at the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety Professional Development Center. Cadets in the program go through several types of training there.

The Professional Development Center in Glenville in Gilmer County hosts the cadets during their training period. Among the training are things like agility obstacle courses and edged weapon defensive tactics training. Garrett Powell is a cadet at the facility.

“When I first came into the regional jail authority, the physical test was more along the lines of push-ups and sit-ups and how high you can jump,” Powell said. “The agility test really helped open it up to ensure that we are physically fit, as you saw there is jumping involved and being able to pick things up on the fly.”

The facility works to train those working in the regional jail system, juvenile services and divisions of corrections. Usually a few months after being hired and after undergoing initial training officers come to the facility and become cadets for 6 weeks.

Ron Casto is Deputy Director of Training for the West Virginia Division of Corrections.

“We work in a closed-door society, every day when we go to work the doors close behind us and the only people that get access to those facilities or the profession are the ones that we allow,” Casto said. “It’s not because we like it that way, it’s because it’s the nature of our job and the commitment we have to public service.”

He says trainers are put through rigorous training to make sure they’re ready for the job because it can be quite stressful.

“We deal with human beings, lots of times there is no black and white,” Casto said. “There is a lot of sacrifices that have to be made, we have posts that have to be covered 24 hours a day, it can be quite stressful. The average life expectancy of a correctional officer is somewhere between 56 to 57 years. “

Cadets range in age from those in their first employment to those restarting their careers.

Conference Focuses on Transitioning Youth from State Custody to Communities

More than 150 individuals gathered in Charleston this week for a meeting that was the first of its kind.

Hosted by the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling Charleston, the day long conference brought together the state Division of Juvenile Services, Department of Health and Human Resources and the Department of Education with religious and community social service programs to focus on an issue that’s becoming more and more visible in West Virginia: transitioning juveniles from state custody back into their communities.

Amidst a day full of meetings and brain storming sessions, conference attendees also met Jimmy, a twenty- two-year-old Kanawha County resident who preferred to not be identified with his last name.

Jimmy was a former resident of the Salem Industrial Home for Youth, the maximum security youth home that was closed after a 2012 lawsuit that claimed the home did not facilitate rehabilitation for youth and was instead more like an adult prison. At age 16, Jimmy was sent to the facility after a domestic battery charge.

Despite spending nearly a year in the harsh environment of Salem and a large portion of his childhood in and out of DHHR placements, Jimmy was able to succeed. He received a grant from the Salvation Army to pay for the first six months of his housing after release, found a job and learned how to live on his own, he said because something “just clicked.”

“Something has to click in your mind to make you want to change and mine was, I don’t like the way my life is. So, I wanted it to change,” he said.

But Jimmy will tell you he didn’t do it alone. He did it with the help of Julie Timmermeyer, his community resource coordinator.

One of just 12 in the state, Timmermeyer was assigned to Jimmy to help him find his first apartment, apply for his first job and navigate state and federal aid programs.

“We as after care, we wear many hats. One is a mentor, one is sometimes a teacher type,” Timmermeyer said, “but a lot of times, we’re a parent.”

She joined with her fellow resource coordinators, state education and health employees, and religious and community service organizations to discuss how the groups can create more Jimmys, more success stories.

The biggest challenges pointed out at the conference: access to affordable house, mental health and substance abuse services and transportation.

Funding is an easy way to fix those problems, but not so easy to get. Instead conference attendees focused on on working together to coordinate services, brainstorming ways to get the community involved in the transition process, and lobbying lawmakers about the importance of funding services at the local level.

Audit: W.Va. Agency Spend $3.5 Million on Abandoned Project

A new report says the West Virginia Division of Juvenile Services spent about $3.5 million to renovate a juvenile facility and then abandoned the project with the work uncompleted.

The Legislative Auditor’s Office says in a report released Monday that the agency’s reasons for stopping the project were foreseeable when it began. The office recommends that the agency develop a procedure to gauge cost versus benefit for future construction and renovation projects.

The agency began renovating the Davis Center after juveniles were transferred to a new facility in 2009. The project was halted around December 2013.

In its response, the agency says it leased the property from the Division of Natural Resources. The agency says the DNR is working with other agencies to covert the property to a canning facility.

Tomblin Fills Three Military, Public Affairs Posts

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has made three appointments at the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, including naming Stephanie Bond the director of the Division of Juvenile Services.

Bond has been serving as the division’s acting director since February 2013. Previously, she was the superintendent of the Kenneth “Honey” Rubenstein Juvenile Center in Davis.

The department’s deputy secretary will become director of the Division of Justice and Community Services. Rick Staton will replace retired director Norbert Federspiel. Staton has been the department’s deputy secretary since March 2013.

Division of Corrections Commissioner Jim Rubenstein will serve a dual role by taking over Staton’s current job.

Rubenstein has served more than three decades in corrections. He was named commissioner in 2001.

All appointments take effect July 1.

W.Va. Juvenile Panel Expands Mission, Changes Name

A state juvenile commission has a new name, a new chairman and an expanded mission.

The West Virginia Supreme Court says the Adjudicated Juvenile Rehabilitation Review Commission made the changes this week during its quarterly meeting. Its new name is the Juvenile Justice Commission.

Supreme Court Justice Margaret Workman established the commission in 2011 to monitor the state’s juvenile justice system. It focused on children in the Division of Juvenile Services’s custody.

The commission’s focus will now include all out-of-home placements for troubled juveniles.

Workman stepped down as chairwoman and appointed Mercer County Circuit Court Judge Omar Aboulhosn as chairman.

Aboulhosn presided over a lawsuit challenging the treatment of juvenile offenders in state facilities. He appointed the commission to monitor compliance with a settlement of the case.