Juvenile Facility Operations operates two types of secure custody centers for youths in North Carolina: juvenile detention centers and youth development centers.
Juvenile detention centers temporarily house youths alleged to have committed a delinquent act or to be a runaway. Youths are generally placed in a juvenile detention center while awaiting a court hearing, or until another placement can be found, either in a community-based program or service or following commitment awaiting placement in a youth development center.
Effective Aug. 1, 2020, juvenile detention centers also house youth under age 18 who are charged in criminal court (adult system) and detained pretrial or who receive certain criminal sentences or certain sanctions as a result of adult probation.
Youth development centers are secure facilities that provide education and treatment services to prepare committed youth to successfully transition to a community setting. This type of commitment is the most restrictive, intensive dispositional option available to the juvenile courts in North Carolina. The structure of the juvenile code limits this disposition to those juveniles who have been adjudicated for violent or serious offenses or who have a lengthy delinquency history.
Juvenile Nutrition Services provides oversight of the nutritional programming in youth development centers and state-operated juvenile detention centers. To ensure the youth in our care receive the proper diet, our facilities participate in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. This team works collaboratively with facility food service supervisors and their staffs to ensure optimal nutritional outcomes for youth. Youth's nutritional literacy is targeted as an education goal while promoting healthy food consumption at the centers. The Juvenile Nutrition Services features a team of professionals at Central Office who are assigned to ensure compliance with all federal and state nutrition standards and menu-planning approaches.
The School Nutrition Services Section of the N.C. Department of Public Instruction conducts a required comprehensive program review of Juvenile Justice's School Nutrition Program every five years. This review measures compliance in areas including meal access, eligibility and reimbursement, benefit issuance, meal counting and claiming, dietary specifications and nutrition standards, meal patterns, food safety, civil rights, local wellness policies, accountability and recordkeeping, financial management, procurement and other areas as described in the federal regulations. This review is overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Links:
Updated Local Wellness Policy for Juvenile Detention Centers, January 2018
Updated Local Wellness Policy for Youth Development Centers, January 2018
Triennial Assessment Report, 2020-21
Technical Assistance Regarding Use of the Nondiscrimination Statement
Contacts:
Director of School Nutrition: Maria Jones
School Nutrition Administrative Officer: Carolyn Cash
Juvenile Education Services (JES) provides oversight of the education programming in youth development centers, juvenile detention centers and contracted community-based residential programs, and is charged with fulfilling all state and federal mandates of a traditional school system. Our goal is to provide every student committed to a juvenile facility with an educational program that maximizes his or her academic and personal success.
Youth development centers employ a full staff of teachers, guidance counselors, media coordinators and administrators. In addition, social workers and psychologists work closely with school personnel to provide appropriate services to students. Juvenile detention centers employ smaller numbers of teachers, who teach a full range of classes to students.
Classes are generally small, with fewer than 12 students in a class. Our schools are equipped with technology and online curriculum, as well as e-mail access for teachers. New teachers are provided with support teams and a mentor. All teachers receive a two-week orientation period prior to beginning teaching.
The school year is 220 days, and all teachers are employed for 12 months a year. Teachers are paid on the state teacher salary schedule according to their years of experience and earned degree, and receive a five percent supplement to the 12-month salary.
Teachers are entitled to all state holidays and may request vacation time at any time during the school year. School is closed approximately one week in December and one week in the summer. In addition, there are 17 optional teacher workdays throughout the year and 10 days for staff development activities.
The juvenile justice system also employs administrators at the state level. These positions generally require a master's degree in education. Employees at the state level work in the Raleigh office and travel extensively to provide support to the facilities.
Juvenile Health Services is dedicated to meeting the health and health education needs of the youths in juvenile justice facilities. Professional medical staff screen and assess youth upon admission, develop healthcare plans and provide appropriate interventions and/or follow-up that may include referral for specialty assessment and intervention. Follow this link for additional information regarding juvenile health services.