Tulsa County’s probationary license to operate the Tulsa County Juvenile Detention Home has been extended after a state assessment. In a Sept. 30th letter to Juvenile Detention Home management, the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA) Office of Public Integrity noted: “The assessment indicated improvement in areas of compliance with contract mandates and state certification standards” the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) wrote in a release today.
The Probationary License is effective through the end of this year. The objective of the BOCC and Juvenile Detention Home management is to continue to improve facility operations and achieve full licensure.
In July, the BOCC moved to assume control of the facility from the Juvenile Bureau after an OJA assessment threatened to revoke the facility’s license by the end of that month. On July 19th, the BOCC named David Parker as Manager of the Juvenile Detention Home and the OJA subsequently granted the BOCC a probationary license to operate the facility through Sept. 30th.
“The OJA assessment confirms that we are making important progress in bringing Tulsa County’s Juvenile Detention Home up to the high standards that we, state regulators, and our entire community expect,” said Tulsa County Commission Chair Stan Sallee. “We are committed to doing the work to ensure the long-term success of the facility and the care of the juveniles housed there. We put our new management team in place with the experience, expertise, and commitment to improve operations. And on Sept. 26th we convened the first meeting of a new Detention Home Advisory Committee that brings together expertise from around our community to help us meet our commitment to operate this facility as intended.”
The assessment included a section entitled “Additional Comments/Concerns” where it was reported: “Two (2) youth that had previously been detained at TCJDC mentioned that they can see and feel the changes that have been recently made.”
The report from OJA’s Sept. 11th audit noted compliance in all but one area. The area of non-compliance is limited to documentation for room restrictions, room confinements and overnight check logs. Issues noted include a room restriction not displaying an end time, a missing staff signature, and two nighttime checks that were missed or logged incorrectly.
The report also affirmed compliance in the Administrative Requirements section but noted an opportunity to improve residents’ awareness of the fire-drill process. The Tulsa County Juvenile Detention Home is completing a corrective action plan on issues noted and will submit it by the end of October.
“I’m very happy with the changes we are making, and most importantly, we are already improving the outcomes for the youth housed in our facility,” Detention Home Manager Parker said. “We are committed to continue the hard work to move out of probationary status. We are also increasing our staffing and taking steps to ensure access appropriate mental-health resources for our youth.”
The OJA assessment noted that findings it identified as “reoccurring” for the Jan. 1st through Sept. 11th assessment period, were corrected. The assessment from the OJA’s Office of Public Integrity specifically calls out progress that the Juvenile Detention Home is making in the realm of policy and procedure, noting: “The new administration is focusing their attention on reviewing each facility practice to ensure all applicable codes and statutes are addressed, as well as incorporating best practices consistent with American Correctional Association Detention Facility Standards and Prison Rape Elimination Act standards for juvenile detention. To further expedite efforts toward policy change, the administration applied for the Training and Technical Assistance grant through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Through the grant, the Council of Juvenile Justice Administrators is assisting Tulsa County Juvenile Detention Home with the review of the current policy and providing input for facility development as well as provisions for management training and juvenile setting and development for quality assurance measures.”
Juvenile Detention Home Manager Parker said, “We will continue to draw on expertise and resources to institute best practices for this facility.”
