NC juvenile detention facilities working to address overcrowding, insufficient staffing
North Carolina juvenile detention facilities are overcrowded and there aren’t enough staff to run operations to help young offenders, state data shows.
Since 2020, overall juvenile complaints are up 19%, complaints against 11-year-olds are up 29% and complaints against 12- and 13-year-old are up 35%.
In the summer all 13 of the state’s 13 juvenile detention facilities were overcrowded with dozens of kids forced to sleep on the floor each night. The state estimates its juvenile facilities are 20% overcapacity.
“We are opening three facilities in the next six months that will help a whole lot with increasing our capacity and bed space,” said William Lassiter, who serves as the deputy secretary of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
The new openings include:
- The Richmond Juvenile Detention Center opened Oct. 1 with 24 beds
- The Rockingham Youth Development Center is set to open in March 2024 with 60 beds
- The Perquimans Juvenile Detention Center is set to open in March 2024 with 24 beds
Also Durham Youth Home is planning to add an unspecified number of beds next year.
With the addition of beds, juvenile crime continues to rise in North Carolina, state data shows. Over the past year, there was a 23% increase in violent crime among juveniles.
Lassiter attributes the increase to the COVID-19 pandemic with kids being out of school and not getting the help and services they need.
“A lot of kids coming out of COVID are not well adjusted and have mental-health problems,” Lassiter said.
To combat that, the state is planning to open a mental health hospital in Butner for juveniles. It is expected to open by the end of the month.
"It will help kids in a mental-health crisis get the services they need,” Lassiter said. “We think this is will help pull down population in juvenile justice system.”
However, the state needs staff to help too. As of Thursday, North Carolina’s Juvenile Justice Division has 37% vacancy rate, which is the highest within the Department of Public Safety. However, Lassiter says new money is bringing in new applicants.
“We got a large investment from the General Assembly and governor this year,” he said.
Lassiter said they’ve seen a 400% increase in applications since the increase was put in place on Oct. 1.
Also, the state has increased the starting pay for jail staff from $37,000 to $45,000 after receiving close to $3.1 million dollars from the General Assembly.
Since October, they have filled 64 positions with hundreds more still open.
