Wayne County Increases Staffing, Reduces Overcrowding at Juvenile Detention Facility

On Monday June 5, 2023 Wayne County Officials ended the Public Health Emergency at the Juvenile Detention Facility (JDF) after accomplishing the critical goals of that effort.

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“This has been an entire County effort. Ensuring the safety of both staff and youth at the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility has always been the goal. But that also means thinking broadly about their well-being—about making sure the youth get the help they desperately need,” stated Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans. (Photo by Tell Us USA News Network)

Wayne County Increases Staffing, Reduces Overcrowding at Juvenile Detention Facility; Ends Public Health Emergency

DETROIT, MI - On Monday June 5, 2023 Wayne County Officials ended the Public Health Emergency at the Juvenile Detention Facility (JDF) after accomplishing the critical goals of that effort. Since the Public Health Emergency was declared on March 21st, the County has worked with its partners at the Third Circuit Court and the State of Michigan to achieve:

• Reduced population. When the emergency was declared, the census included 134 youths. Today’s census is 113. The census had been as low as 105 prior to the seasonal increase in intakes that comes with the onset of warm weather.

• Increased staffing. Wayne County has raised wages 35% across the board, allowing the County to hire an additional 54 staff members since declaring the Public Health Emergency, with an additional 60 positions now open.

• Expanding leadership. Wayne County has hired two new Deputy Directors with a long track record in corrections, law enforcement, and public service, and is in the process of hiring a third. There is currently a nationwide search for the roles of JDF Director and Chief Administrator.

• Reduced crowding. Along with reducing the population of youth in the facility, the County has more than doubled the space within which youths are residing. Whereas there had been upwards of 50 youths per housing pod, there are currently no more than 20 youths per pod.

• Reinstituting a classification system. In accordance with best practices for juvenile detention, youths are now separated by age and charge.

• In-facility treatment. Wayne County has created a new space dedicated for mental health treatment for youths, operated in partnership with Team Wellness, which will begin on June 15th.

• Expanded placements. Team Wellness has created a community day treatment program for eligible youths to expand possible placements to reduce long-term stays for adjudicated youths.

The Public Health Emergency was declared by Wayne County Executive Warren Evans during his annual State of the County address. Under the emergency, the County dedicated $10 million toward addressing all needs in the facility, and created an incident command led by Health, Human, and Veterans Services Director, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed.

“This has been an entire County effort. Ensuring the safety of both staff and youth at the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility has always been the goal. But that also means thinking broadly about their well-being—about making sure the youth get the help they desperately need,” Evans stated. “We’re now working collaboratively with partners on the local and state levels so that we can move toward reform and transformation.”

“Looking back at what we’ve achieved in the span of this emergency, it’s clear that this is an inflection point for our facility,” said Assad Turfe, Deputy County Executive. “There’s much more to be done, but we’re building on solid foundations now.”

There’s no quick fix but the work to create change and transformation is underway. “We’ve used this emergency to answer two key questions: how do we best protect and provide for the youths under our care, and how do we make sure their time at JDF helps them in their long-term rehabilitation,” said Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, Director Wayne County Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services. “While there’s a lot more to improve and build upon, we feel that the work we’ve done during the emergency has provided a solid foundation for that work.”

“The emergency has provided a platform for County, State and Court leadership to engage in regular and meaningful collaborative sessions to address systemic issues greater than the JDF. Through our collaboration and partnership, the immediate safety needs have been addressed that have allowed us to create a safe and humane environment within a secure setting,” said Melissa Fernandez, Division Director for Juvenile and Youth Services.

“The emergency at the Juvenile Detention Facility not only required the county to take quick, decisive action but also to take a good, hard look how young people were being treated there and address the shortcomings,” Wayne County Commission Chair Alisha Bell (D-Detroit) said. “By working together, we did just that. This is by no means the end of our efforts and the county’s new juvenile detention facility, which will open this year, gives us much reason to continue moving forward. By placing greater emphasis on mental health issues and creating space this month to provide treatment, we are moving in the right direction.”

Evans says none of this would have been possible without the support of our partners at the State and the Court.

“We are pleased with the strides made by Wayne County to reach this milestone, and the progress that has been made so far to address concerns at the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility,” said Elizabeth Hertel, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). “MDHHS has worked diligently to expand bed capacity, connect the county with partners like Team Wellness, provide guidance and overcome hurdles to support the safety of youth in detention. We are thankful to our partners across child welfare who have worked together with us to address the systemic and persistent issues within the juvenile justice system statewide.”

“Wayne County has made progress toward addressing the concerns that triggered the county’s Public Health Emergency, with the support of MDHHS as well as our partners, who helped secure safe placements for youth at Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility,” said Suzanna Shkreli, MDHHS director of Juvenile Justice Reform. “There is more work to be done as we reform juvenile justice across the state, and we will continue to work with all partners to support the safety of youth in detention.”

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