Sedgwick County weighs new juvenile services campus after decades of split locations

Sedgwick County commissioners on Monday discussed plans to consolidate juvenile services into a single campus, with county Department of Corrections staff recommending a new two‑story building rather than a hybrid remodel.

The proposal, presented by Steve Stonehouse of the Sedgwick County Department of Corrections, would bring juvenile field services (probation and intensive supervision), home‑based services, the evening reporting center and the juvenile residential facility into one campus. "We're talking about a proposal to bring juvenile field services... and the juvenile residential facility into 1 location," Stonehouse said.

The recommendation follows years in which juvenile programs have operated from multiple sites. Stonehouse described how juvenile field services has moved locations several times since 1998 and that the juvenile residential facility (JRF), built in 1994, has functional and safety issues: "There's no waiting room. There's no rooms to meet with workers or therapists... the design just is not"…