Franklin County juvenile probation chief outlines evidence-based reforms, cites bed shortage and mental-health access gaps

Angie Mackley, the newly appointed chief of juvenile probation, told the Franklin County Board of Commissioners on May 14 that the office has implemented evidence-based assessments and case-planning tools and has seen placements and recidivism fall, but that the system is strained by juvenile detention bed shortages and limited local psychiatric services.

Mackley said Franklin County uses the Pennsylvania Detention Risk Assessment Instrument, the Youth Level of Service (YLS), the MAYSI-2 mental-health screen, and a child-trauma screen as part of a case-planning approach based on the statewide Juvenile Justice System Enhancement Strategy (JJSES). She said those tools guide individualized plans that emphasize family-strengthening and community-based supervision.

Mackley told commissioners the county completed 428 YLS assessments in 2024: 283 scored low risk, 136 moderate, eight high and one very high. She said juvenile placements fell from 32 in 2019 to 18 in 2024, and that the department recorded $23,224.28 in restitution collected and 2,902 hours of community service completed.

Mackley described several in-house alternatives the office provides because of limited community mental-health capacity: victim/community-awareness classes, first-offender programs, a social-media class for sexting cases, youth court and youth aid panels, and other group interventions. She said probation officers also deliver many in-office services and that officers are carrying additional work because the office is staffed for 16 positions but is currently down four.

On detention capacity, Mackley said the closure of a regional detention option at South Mountain left Franklin County relying on contracted beds out of state for some placements. "My staff have to drive four hours to get to Ohio to take kids," she said, and added that in-state beds are scarce. She told the commissioners that Pennsylvania bed rates can be about $800 per day "if you can find one"; she described the out-of-state contracts and the travel burden but the transcript record on the precise Ohio rate was unclear.

Commissioners asked about mental-health access. Mackley said lengthy psychiatric wait lists are a key barrier: "Access to psychiatry is a huge, huge issue. There are psychiatrists, but the waiting lists are tremendous," she said, noting some youths self-medicate while waiting for care. She said juvenile psychiatry is sometimes a subspecialty and that telehealth has been used to expand options.

Mackley said the department's approach has reduced recidivism: the county's recidivism rate dropped from about 23% (prior to JJSES implementation) to about 13% in the last published report, compared with a statewide rate of about 12.6% at that report. She credited probation officers' sustained use of structured supervision, graduated responses and family-centered case plans for the progress.