Baton Rouge, La. – The Office of Juvenile Justice completed the first phase of adjudicated youth transfers as part of a comprehensive plan, both short and long-term, to address the need to provide better care for youth and improve safety for youth, staff, and surrounding communities.
Transporters safely moved eighteen youths to secure care facilities throughout the state. Ten youths from BCCY moved to Swanson Center for Youth at Monroe. Four youths from Acadiana Center for Youth at St. Martinville and four youths from Swanson Center for Youth at Monroe were moved to the temporary West Feliciana Center for Youth facility—for a total of eight youths currently housed at the West Feliciana Center for Youth. OJJ is in the process of contacting the youths’ families and legal representatives to inform them of the relocation.
Over the summer, disturbances at the Bridge City Center for Youth-led OJJ to take proactive measures to stabilize conditions at that facility. That meant that some high-priority youth were transferred from BCCY to other OJJ facilities while work was conducted to prepare the temporary West Feliciana Center for Youth facility.
In June, the legislature passed, and Gov. John Bel Edwards signed Act 693 into law which created a tiered system of low-risk, moderate and high-risk juveniles within OJJ’s secure facilities based on assessments.
OJJ is constantly assessing the youth in our care to determine what facility and level of care is best for their development, their safety, and the safety of those around them