Juvenile Justice

Youth Facilities

The Division of Juvenile Justice oversees eight youth facilities around the state. Each of these facilities provides:

  • Secure facilities for youth awaiting determination of the outcomes relating to their offenses.
  • Highly structured core services such as short-term individual, group, and family counseling.
  • Education services from local schools and schools at some facilities.
  • Health screening and medical care.
  • Mental health diagnostics and services.
  • Substance abuse education and prevention.
  • Life-skills competency building.

Capacity by Facility
as of 1/1/2011

  DETENTION
 BEDS		 TREATMENT
BEDS		 TOTAL
BEDS
Bethel Youth Facility 

8

10

18
Fairbanks Youth Facility 

20

17

37
Johnson Youth Center, Juneau

8

22

30
Kenai Peninsula Youth Facility

10

0

10
Ketchikan Regional Youth Facility

6

4

10
Mat-Su Youth Facility, Palmer

15

0

15
McLaughlin Youth Center, Anchorage

60

96

156
Nome Youth Facility 

14

0

14
Statewide Total

141

149

290

Long-Term Treatment Programs:

Our youth facilities in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau and Bethel also provide services for youth committed for long-term treatment. Their programs are specifically designed to intervene in entrenched delinquent behavior, to build value systems reflective of the local culture, and restore victims and the community to the fullest degree possible. Youth are assigned a treatment team that works with them and their families throughout their stay to break the cycle of offending.

Comprehensive treatment plans are developed with resident and family input targeting specific areas requiring change and growth. Educational services are provided by the local school districts, including services for special needs students. Comprehensive medical and mental health services are provided to all long-term residents as necessary. In conjunction with probation officers, aftercare services are being developed to ensure a greater number of youth will adjust to community placement and maintain the progress they have made while in secure treatment.

Eliminating Overcrowding:

The increased capacity of our youth facilities—along with an overall reduction in referrals and an increased number of community-based alternatives to detention—allowed our Division to meet an important, long-time goal this past year: to eliminate overcrowding. Although a few youth facilities did continue to have more youth referrals than beds available, most had decreased average daily populations and were able to meet the needs of youth remanded to them as well as the public’s need for insured safety.

Current Goals:

Tasks now before our facility staff around the state are the continued implementation of Restorative Justice principles and the challenges of personnel management: reducing staff turnover, filling vacant positions, and identifying new staff leaders in preparation for the impending retirement of longtime managers.