Juvenille Detention Center history

The House of Refuge opened on January 1, 1825, at the intersection of Broadway and 23rd Streets, then a semi-rural area of Manhattan.

Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow, writes that, “There are more African Americans under correctional control today—in prison or jail, on probation or parole—than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began.”

In 1851, the Children's Aid Society built the New York Juvenile Asylum to house children under the age of 12.

As Arthur was believed to be too old for reform school, he was sent to San Quentin State Prison, established in 1852.

One of the best examples of a 19th century reform school was the San Francisco Industrial School, which established in 1859.

The State Reform School for boys in Marysville was authorized and opened in 1861.

In 1875 the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was formed to protect the rights of children.

These efforts culminated with the creation of separate children's court system in 1892, which allowed for all cases involving the commitment or trial of children to be heard an determined by a court devoted to juvenile cases.

Opened as the Preston School of Industry in 1894, it was the state’s second facility built specifically to house juvenile offenders.

On November 4, 1904 Oklahoma County started construction of the first courthouse when the Grand Lodge of AF and AM (Ancient Free and Accepted Masons) laid the cornerstone of the building.

In 1909, Stonewall Jackson Manual Training and Industrial School, the first facility for juveniles, opened.

The first important piece of legislation was the Probation Courts Act of 1915.

In 1918, Samarkand Manor opened as the first State Home and Industrial School for Girls.

These points were later incorporated into the Juvenile Court Statute of 1919.

Perhaps the most significant developments in the way juvenile justice was administered stemmed from a pair of changes in the late 1920s.

Three years later, in 1927, the state Court of Appeals applied the standards of criminal procedure to delinquency cases.

In 1928, the Lavenburg Foundation opened the Hanavah Lavenburg Home for Working Girls at 331 East 12th Street.

A 6-story office building without the ornate architecture, the wide corridors and large lobbies of the 1937 structure was erected.

In Los Angeles, Black people are segregated in the south-central portion of the city and in Little Tokyo—now called Bronzeville—following the 1942 incarceration of the Japanese American community in internment camps.

All state juvenile facilities were supervised and funded independently until 1943, when the General Assembly created the statewide Board of Correction and Training to administer a unified Training School system, the Board of Juvenile Correction.

The 1,090-acre estate was leased with an option to purchase for $60,000 and that option was exercised in 1946.

The old site and building were sold for $327,997 which provided sufficient funds to liquidate all outstanding bonds and the cost of construction to be paid in 1950.

Justice William A. Berry started the Oklahoma County Juvenile Detention Home movement in June 1953.

The reception center-clinic first opened in 1956.Additionally, in February, the Ventura Youth Correctional Facility in Camarillo returned to a females-only facility.

. . . . In 1957, due to overcrowding at East 12th Street, Youth House moved to more spacious facilities.

After a series of delays around procurement of a site and other details had been worked out, construction commenced in March 1958.

The Board of County Commissioners, by resolution, on the 8th day of February 1960, gave the official name of "Berry House" to the Juvenile Detention Home, in honor of Justice William A. Berry.

A 1967 decision by the Supreme Court affirmed the necessity of requiring juvenile courts to respect the due process of law rights of juveniles during their proceedings.

Heman G. Stark was named Director and served until 1968.

The Juvenile Bureau replaced "Children's Court" by the passage of legislation on January 13, 1969.

Nine people were employed to begin on June 1, 1972 as intake and probation officers.

In 1978, the New York State Legislature passed the Juvenile Offender Act.

1979: The Creation of DJJ

In late August 1982 the Juvenile Bureau moved to the sixth floor of the Oklahoma County office Building.

Second Commissioner Ellen Schall, who had a history as an advocate for youth, broadened the agency's focus beyond simple detention beginning in 1983.

Beginning in 1985, a series of lawsuits are filed on behalf of immigrant children who have been detained by the former government agency Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Flores v.

On October 1, 1986 the Juvenile Bureau moved to the Oklahoma County Juvenile Center at 5905 N. Classen Court, Oklahoma City.

When DJJ was created it was asked not only to oversee detention, but to spearhead an effortto build four new secure detention facilities -- one in each borough except Staten Island. . . . [W]ork on the new facilities did not begin until 1988, and by then the number had been reduced from four to two.

The increase in crime hit a peak in 1994 and then began to gradually decline.

An additional 38 beds, 3 classrooms, along with staff offices, and multi-purpose room were added in 1996.

To meet the need for space, DJJ leased the Vernon C. Bain Center from the Department of Correction in June 1998.

In December 1999, DJJ returned to that facility - renamed Bridges Juvenile Center.

Feld, B. (2004). Juvenile Transfer.

Snyder, H. N., & Sickmund, M. (2006). Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report.

Lawrence, R. & Hemmens, C. (2008). Juvenile Justice: A text/reader.

In February, counties began to assume parole supervision of juvenile offenders, under the Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2010.

The following Remedial Plans were dismissed in 2013: Health Care Services Remedial Plan, Wards with Disabilities Program, Sexual Behavior Treatment Program and Education Services (with the exception of the absence rate at Ventura Youth Correctional Facility/Mary B. Perry High School).

In February 2016, DJJ was released from the Farrell v.

Human Rights Watch (2017). Youth Offender Parole: A Guide for People in Prison and Their Families and Friends.

In April 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announces a policy that directs federal prosecutors to criminally prosecute all adult migrants entering the country illegally.

Torbati, Y.T & Cooke, K. (2019, February 14). “First Stop for Migrant Kids: For Profit Detention Center.” Reuters.

The 2020-21 California State Budget provides for DJJ to transition out of CDCR and into the California Health and Human Services Agency, where it would become the Department of Youth and Community Restoration.