Welcome to the SWIJDC report page.
This page and the pictures may be downloaded or copied, printed off to be used in reports for school.
This page was started on May 1, 2003, and more will be added as more questions come in. If you think of something that is not covered here, please let me know, and I can add it to the page. Please email me at sjett@canyoncounty.org.
(Don't you wish all your research was this easy?)
Here is a view down one of the hallways. You are looking at 12 cells. There are 12 more immediately upstairs, making it 24 for each wing. We have 3 wings, giving us 72 regular rooms. We also have a 14 bed dormitory and 4 observation rooms. The bags hanging from the hinges contain laundry. The white piles on the floor are the freshly laundered bedding and linen. The closest door on the right, with the sliding hatch, is a shower.
This is one of the cells. The kids must fold their bedding and keep the room neat at all times.
The picture below is our booking office. Kathy is booking in a juvenile. All of the information goes into our database, then we fingerprint, photograph and change the kids into our clothing. All of the information we have, including fingerprints and photographs, are available to any law enforcement agency and the FBI.
This is the dayroom, almost all set up for the kids to come in and grab a tray before going to their rooms to eat. Just before the kids come through, we put sandwiches on the trays, and spoon out the soup. Our 'magazine rack' is the table in the back of the room. The game cabinet is the dark thing on the far right. Our library shelves are just out of sight past the game cabinet. You must earn the privilege of using the exercise machine.
This is our school. We have 3 classrooms in operation, with 3 teachers and an aide. In this picture, our aide is helping a juvenile. Notice the clothing. The kid on the right is on Level 3, which means he gets some more privileges that the kid on the left, who is on Level 2. Privileges include more time out of their room, more gym time, more phone calls each week, visitation with extended family members, more books in their cells, etc.
How many kids can the facility hold? We have 90 beds, but we have enough staff to hold about 56 kids right now. As population rises, we will hire more staff.
How long do they usually stay in detention? The average stay is about 15 days, but we some juveniles have been here for a year or longer.
How many kids are in the facility now and on the average? The average over the past 2 years has been a steady at around 45. We usually see a dip at certain times of the year, but we also see peaks in population at other times of the year. Our population has reached 74 in the past.
Why are the kids in there? Kids can come into the center only if they are accused of, or have committed a crime. We don't hold anyone for being abused or neglected. We have some kids who come in because they failed to go to court on minor offenses, like smoking or possession of alcohol, but we also have kids that are here because they have committed violent offenses.
What happens when the kids do not follow the rules? They receive write ups, and this keeps them from moving up on our level system, which is how the kids earn more privileges. We have rules separated into Minor(Class C), Intermediate(Class B) and Major rules(Class A) The Class C rules include not folding your bedding and talking in the hallway. Intermediate rules include disrespect for staff or other juveniles and using profanity. Major rules include fighting and interfering with a head count.
What is the day like for the kids? They get up on a schedule that depends on their level status: If they have been here a while without any behavior problems, then they are allowed to sleep a little bit later. Otherwise, we start getting them up at about 5 or 530. They clean their area, then eat and go to school. We have three school rooms here so that the juveniles do not have to go to any outside school. They also have an hour of gym during the school day and a short lunch break. After school, which ends about 215, they are given at least one hour of leisure time in community dayrooms. They can earn more time depending on their level. We have four levels on the level system, 1,2,3,4. It takes 4 weeks to get to level 4, and they get more freedom as they move up. The juveniles are back in their cells for dinner, but usually come out after dinner for programs and visitation, which occurs Wednesday and Sunday, for an hour each time.
How many juveniles are in each cell? The cells are only big enough for one juvenile, but when our population reaches 77, we will start using our dorm room, which will house 14 juveniles.
Do they have to go to school while they are in there? YES! We have three classrooms that operate on a year-round basis. For example, the kids will have the day off on Christmas Day, July 4, New Years, President's Day, Labor Day and Memorial Day, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving and Veteran's Day, but they do not get long Spring or Christmas breaks like in a regular school. They also attend school throughout the summer. School is important to us.
What happens when you have a fight? Our staff is trained in an state-wide approved method of restraint to be able to stop the fight, then the juveniles are separated and will be charged with a Major(Class A) rule violation, and also will probably be charged with Assault or Battery by the police.
Who puts kids in Detention? Well, the logical answer to that question is that Police Officers, Judges and in some cases Probation Officers have the authority to place kids in detention. BUT, the real answer is that the kids themselves choose to come into detention through their actions and behavior. When a person commits a crime, they have to realize that one of the consequences of that crime may include detention. For example, if you choose to steal, you have also made the choice to visit detention. Kids in detention cannot blame others for what happens as a result of their crime. That is a simple principle that applies everywhere. Even kids outside of detention cannot blame others for the results of any other action. For example, don't blame the teacher if you do not study and end up earning an "F" in class. EVERYONE MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN ACTIONS!
Also, if you use information from our page, please drop me a line and let me know you 'visited' us, and what you learned while you were here.
Thanks
Steve Jett