Juvenile Detention
1501
Cedar Street NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Phone: (616) 632-5750
Fax: (616) 632-5758
Mission Statement
The Kent County Juvenile Detention Center is a multi-purpose facility designed to provide pre- and post-disposition, safe and secure short-term care and custody for juveniles who cannot be placed in a less restrictive setting and who have violated the law, violated court orders and stipulations of probation, and/or who are waiting court-ordered placement.
Detention Facility
The function of Detention is to provide temporary care for youth requiring secure custody pending court study and disposition, or pending transfer to another jurisdiction or agency. Detained youth are ones whose offenses are so serious that release would endanger public safety or the welfare of the child.
The Detention Facility,
which has a bed capacity of 69, currently employs 98 staff (includes school,
medical, mental health personnel, etc.,) with the majority of that workforce
being Youth Specialists.
The Facility's staff training/orientation program is extensive in its coverage of training issues and offers training to other Court staff and County employees, as well as its own staff. The State's Division of Child Welfare Licensing mandates training in 9 specific areas. All staff completed their hours of training in those areas, plus many more hours on other topics. The object of all of these activities is to produce a knowledgeable, confident, and professional Juvenile Detention employee who can perform on the job according to the highest professional standards. While state law calls for at least 24 hours of training annually for each detention employee, Kent County Juvenile Detention Facility averaged 40 hours of training per employee in 2002.
Within the six residential units, emphasis is placed on group living through the behavior management program. Although Detention is not a treatment facility, the programs of the center are activity oriented and intended to be constructive for the youth.
A full school program
is a major component of Detention programming. The Grand Rapids Board of Education
funds and staffs the school unit. The school staff consists of five full time
academic teachers, a part-time art teacher, three teacher aides, two support
staff, and two tutors for remedial math and reading. Each resident is tested
in order to provide individualized instruction at the juvenile's actual functioning
grade level. Classes are conducted in 40-minute increments, with the students
changing classrooms, instructors, and subject matter each period.
In the fall of the 2003/2004 school year, a year round school program was started. The program calls for Grand Rapids Board of Education teachers to provide classes Monday through Thursday and for the detention staff to provide Life and Social Skill classes on Fridays. Thus far, this program is working very well. Both residents and staff appear energized and excited about school. In addition, the facility has added gender specific training for our female residents whose numbers have greatly increased in 2003.
Assigned chaplains and other interested churches maintain community involvement through the provision of religious services. Local civic and college groups provide many special activities as well. There are also group-counseling sessions provided on a daily or, in some instances, a weekly basis.
A
source of financial support continues to come from the Waalkes Living Memorial
Fund in memory of the late Judge Wallace Waalkes. This fund, supervised by
three trustees, continues to fund special projects for programs and materials
for the juveniles in Secure Detention.
Kent County continues to contract with Holy Cross Children's Services to operate The Haven. The Haven (formerly the "Child Haven" facility adjacent to the Juvenile Center) is a twenty bed short-term step-down program from Detention for youth who are admitted to Detention but do not require the security level provided by Detention. The Haven served 201 youth in 2003.
The Detention Facility's administration and staff continue to look for ways to improve its services to the youth who pass through its doors, so, that when released, they will have better coping skills to use in the community.
