Agency reports surge in critical-incident notifications and investigators; senators press on juvenile justice conditions

Amanda Whittle told senators the Department of Children's Advocacy expanded its System Improvement Division and investigative capacity after launching a toll-free complaint line and obtaining access to state case-management systems.

"By the end of FY 24, we had received 2,894 critical incidents just for that year," Whittle said, describing the volume of fatalities, near-fatalities and runaways reported to the agency. She said calls to the agency's intake line increased from 4,870 in FY20 to 7,289 in a later year and that the agency grew its investigations staff from three people to 17.

Whittle said the System Improvement Division made site visits to juvenile facilities and other institutions during the COVID period when visitation and oversight were restricted, and that investigators now regularly visit detention and evaluation centers.

Senators pressed Whittle on conditions at the Department of Juvenile Justice. Whittle said the juvenile detention center's designed capacity was 72 children but that populations had reached as high as about 140 at peaks. She described persistent staffing and retention challenges at DJJ and credited agency leadership with efforts to modernize some units and address unsafe conditions, while also saying the overall situation remained "untenable" in her view.

Whittle told the subcommittee the agency will continue work with the judiciary and DJJ to identify children awaiting waiver hearings and to improve placement and case-flow processes.