The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and its partners have worked together to create approximately 100 new placements for juvenile justice youth since March 1 as part of their efforts to reform the system.
MDHHS has reached an agreement with Rite of Passage — a national provider of youth services — to create a new program with 20 placements for juvenile justice youth statewide, with the possibility of additional placements later.
Rite of Passage will provide secure treatment for youth at the Macomb County Juvenile Justice Center in Mount Clemens, with the facility fully operational and admitting youth as of Monday, Nov. 20.
The additional placements and a package of bills approved by the State House and Senate earlier this month will further address the need for more treatment options for youth, MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel said.
“MDHHS recognizes the need for reform so that juvenile justice youth can receive the treatment they need to realize their dreams,” Hertel said. “We have made great progress in providing additional placement options and will continue to work with the Legislature, counties and judges around the state, and advocates for youth to make Michigan’s juvenile justice system a national model for success.”
MDHHS is partnering with Macomb County on the Rite of Passage project to lease available space at the juvenile justice center. The new program is called the St. Clair Youth Treatment Center.
The new residential treatment program will feature low ratios of youth per staff that are conducive to treatment, single rooms, an indoor gym, library classroom space, a kitchen and dining hall, and outdoor basketball courts and green space.
The program will serve males ages 13-20 with a history of delinquent behavior who have mental health, substance use disorder and/or behavioral needs.
Deputy County Executive Andrew McKinnon said: “Macomb County is dedicated to doing what it can to assist the state and its neighbors to provide greater outcomes for all of our youth. We appreciate the ability to provide space for this program and the state’s willingness to work with us to find ever better ways to manage juvenile detention facilities.”
Hertel and Suzanna Shkreli, MDHHS director of juvenile justice reform, also praised the bipartisan legislation that would put into law innovations recommended by the Task Force on Juvenile Justice. The legislation is known as the Justice for Kids and Communities bill package.
“The Task Force on Juvenile Justice was charged with developing ambitious and innovative recommendations for changes in state law, policy and appropriations to improve youth and family outcomes,” Shkreli said. “This is a key part of our juvenile justice reform. The Justice for Kids and Communities bipartisan bill package was developed with broad consensus of local, state and federal stakeholders and offers our state a once-in-a-generation opportunity to align policies and practices across the juvenile justice continuum with research and best practices to better serve our kids.”
By increasing the state reimbursement rate to 75% for counties that prioritize community-based services for youth over detention, youth will be able to remain in their homes while beds in detention facilities and other child-caring institutions will be freed up for youth who need them the most, she said.
“The bills guarantee that all youth in our state benefit from evidence-based and data-driven practices,” Shkreli said. “Michigan’s youth should be treated with the same principles and given the same opportunities for support within their own communities, whether they are from down river, Up North, or central Michigan.”
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