Juvenile center open in Clarke County

The Clarke County juvenile detention center opened May 18 in part of the county jail.

Sheriff Bill Kerns saw a need for a detention center in the south-central part of Iowa after the closing of the Chariton center.

The new center is one of seven statewide, but is the only one in south-central Iowa, and will service the bottom half of the 5th District, said Sue Archer, administrator for Clarke County juvenile detention center.

The amount of juveniles held each day fluctuates, but the detention center is licensed to hold up to seven. Both males and females can be held at the center.

The center is not licensed to be a treatment facility, said Archer.

“This is simply a holding center,” Archer said. “It’s a safe place to stop the aggressive behavior.”

Eight full-time positions and three part-time positions were created when the center opened. The sheriff is now working to cross-train staff who work in the juvenile facility to also be able to work with in the adult prison.

Kerns said there is a huge difference between working with adults and youths. A mandatory eight-hour gap is required when switching between the two.

“It’s been a great growing process,” he said. “It’s opened up the [the adult staffers’] minds and is a good learning experience for all parties involved. What I’m learning is that you have to show a lot more compassion with the kids. The mindset has to be so different.”

Any county in the state can use the facility, but  eight counties have signed 28E contracts, which provide the transportation for juveniles. The cost per day is $150 per juvenile.

So far, the juvenile detention center has seen an income of $18,900 in the first 30 days of operation, said Kerns.

This money will go into the general fund, which is used to run county business.

An outdoor recreation area is in the works and should be finished at the end of summer, said Kerns.

Since opening, the center bought nearly 95 percent of everything needed locally, including extra fencing needed to meet the specifications for a juvenile detention center, said Kerns.
The center is required to keep all juveniles out of sight and sound of other adult prisoners. To do so, they converted the pod where females were housed into the center.

Approximately $38,000 was spent to bring the center up to specifications and create an outside area.

Archer said the program is all about learning to make good choices.

Archer said when out of their rooms, the juveniles are in programming hours where they participate in supervised scheduled group activities. The programming hours incorporate thinking skills, life skills and character education.

“The purpose of the programming hours is to talk to them about the choices they have made and whether those were the right choices,” said Archer.

When entering the center, every juvenile is in transition for two days and goes to bed at 8:30 p.m. After exhibiting good behavior, the juvenile can move up in a step system and earn a later bedtime or television time.

“This is like an extreme wake-up call for them,” said Kerns. “They’ve probably had multiple chances before they came here. Our goal here is to turn kids around. If we can turn even one kid around, we have been successful.”