Juvenile Detention Services
Juvenile Detention is a temporary, secure, holding facility that ensures the safe custody of juveniles ages 8 to 18 who are accused of conduct subject to the jurisdiction of the Court and require a restricted environment for their own or the communitys protection while pending legal action.   Further, Juvenile Detention provides a wide range of helpful services which support the juveniles physical, emotional and social development.   This Division is the largest within the Department of Juvenile Justice Services (DJJS), with one hundred fifty seven (157) full time employees and a maximum bed capacity for one hundred ninety two (192) youth.

Programs offered by Detention Staff include: Self-Esteem, Drug Awareness, Guidelines to Positive Behavior, Health and Hygiene, Gang Intervention, Life Skills Training, Conflict Resolution, Current Events, Arts and Crafts, Yoga and Cultural Awareness.

The Clar k County School   District provides educational services that include the standard core subjects, as well as Physical Education, Special Education and Adult Education.   A school counselor and second language services are provided within the Detention School program.

Review and Release Program
The DJJS Review and Release Program is a community re-entry program that utilizes Home Management and Electronic Monitoring services to help control the Juvenile Detention Center's population.  Youth who are released to the community under Home Management and/or Electronic Monitoring are released under a contractual agreement that holds the offenders accountable for abiding by the conditions stipulated in the behavioral contract which restricts activities beyond school, work, medical and/or religious reasons to ensure public safety.  Departmental staff, specifically Probation Officers, conduct numerous unannounced home, school, employment and community visits seven days a week during day and late evening hours to ensure compliance.  Juveniles violating either the Home Management and/or the Electronic Monitoring contract rules face a series of graduated sanctions, including immediate re-incarceration.

Detention Reform
In 1992, the Annie E. Casey Foundation established the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI).  The Department of Juvenile Justices Services has been selected as one of the implementation sites for this initiative.  The objectives of JDAI are to reduce the number of children unnecessarily or inappropriately detained; to minimize the number of youth who fail to appear in court or re-offend pending adjudication; to redirect public funds toward successful reform strategies; and to improve conditions of confinemen t.

Statistics for Calendar Year 200 5
In calendar year 2005, a total of 9729 youth were transported to the DJJS Booking Unit.  Of those youth, a total of 3971 (or 40.8%) were placed in Juvenile Detention.  The average daily population in 2005 was 222 and the average number of days youth were detained was 20.