Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Essays - Criminology

Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention The Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Home The Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Home was established to provide safe, secure custody for juveniles being charged with a crime, or are awaiting court action. The majority of children are held pending court disposition or transfer to another jurisdiction or agency. A few children may be held temporarily for as long as three months. Currently the referrals come from the Juvenile Courts of Arlington, Alexandria, and Falls Church. In 1960, Northern Virginia built the home for the sole purpose of housing all of its juvenile delinquents. Over the course of thirty years, the home's size became the cause for concern to the Juvenile courts. Although there had only been one escape in the prior thirty years, The Juvenile Detention Commission of Northern Virginia felt that the home was too small. To deal with the growing cause for concern, a second detention center was built in Fairfax City. This home was to serve most of Fairfax County, splitting the duties with the older, original Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Home. Formerly the NVJDH housed up to 80 youths in its one and only building. After splitting from Fairfax in 1992, the home increased its size by adding two newer, more modern buildings. Although larger and more modern, the newer home was built just to house up to sixty juveniles. There are quarters for up to fifty boys and ten girls. The judicial process for a juvenile charged with a crime, and awaiting court, begins at the NVJDH. The detention and judicial process is split up into three sections. These three sections most frequently add up to an automatic thirteen months of Detention home and court procedures. For the first three months on the juvenile's detention, it is spent in the NVJDH. This is where the juvenile receive social, emotional, cognitive, and other therapeutic recreation until their court hearing. If found guilty of the charge or charges, the juvenile is then sent to The Diagnostic center in Washington D.C. for a period of one month. This is where they are tested and evaluated to determine their personalities, and other mental testing. After the Diagnostic Center, they are sent to The Learning center in Richmond Virginia to serve their designated sentence. Between the three Juvenile centers, there is a waiting period, called Dead time. This is the time where the juvenile waits to be sent to the n ext facility. Usually this Dead time is server at the NVJDH. While in the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Home, the juveniles are put into an environment similar to the outside world. They continue their education inside the facility, although it doesn't count towards regular curriculum needed for school graduation. The juveniles are urged to work for their GED's. An average of ten kids graduate each year from the Home with their GED. The Alexandria school system is where the teachers are provided. Chip Coleman, Director of Recreation and Volunteer services, helps provide a healthier lifestyle for the juveniles in the Home. His plan is to implement what he calls Therapeutic Recreation. This recreation challenges the juvenile social, emotional, cognitive, and physical domains. Social challenges are recreation that helps the juveniles learn to deal with others. For example, once a month the Home has casino night. All the juveniles are places in an environment similar to a casino. They are given play money and are expected to increase their holdings. This is to teach them money management and social control. Art is the approach taken to challenge the emotional side of the juvenile. They are asked to draw something and try to communicate how it makes them feel hen they see what they have produced. Mind puzzles, mazes, and other such recreation that requires deep thought is considered cognitive challenges. The juveniles' physical domain is fed with constant exercise. One on the goals of the home is to make the kids to tired to be bad. For this purpose there is a large modern gym connected to the newer building. Inside the gym there is a full basketball court, a weight center and aerobic equipment. The Home also provides access for the young males to play a local men's basketball team every Sunday night. Along with