10 Dec YOC’s Juvenile Detention Center Recieves National Award

2014 PbS Barbara Allen-Hagen Award

Published Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Youth Opportunity Center’s (YOC) Juvenile Detention Center was recognized by the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators as the 2014 PbS Barbara Allen-Hagen Award winner for detention facilities on Thursday, October 2, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois.

Performance-based Standards (PbS) for Youth Correction and Detention Facilities is a program for agencies to identify, monitor and improve conditions and treatment services provided to incarcerated youths using national standards and outcome measures. PbS was launched in 1995 by the US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and is directed by the PbS Learning Institute.

YOC’s juvenile detention center’s award-winning Performance Based Standards (PbS) facility improvement plan focused on reducing the use and duration of isolations in the center. YOC’s staff, led by Juvenile Detention Services Director and the Director of Compliance, used the data gather through PbS documentation and surveys from staff and residents to implement a philosophical and cultural change which included adapting the daily schedule, reinforcing positive behavior, and providing additional resources for youth to avoid idle time. As a result, the detention center had zero instances where a youth was isolated in response to misbehavior.

“We believe that the key to our success in this area was the result of staff providing feedback, identifying areas for improvement, and helping to ‘own’ the changes that were proposed,” stated PbS Site Coordinator Paula Anderson. “The atmosphere in the facility has improved tremendously with more positive interactions between youths and staff.”