Juvenile Justice Center reports staffing shortfalls, outsources placements that cost about $1.6–$1.7 million annually
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Summary
The juvenile justice director said the center is operating at 17 of 42 youth care worker positions, has 27 residents (19 detention, 8 treatment), and that 10 children are in residential placements costing about $4,600 per day each, totaling roughly $1.6–$1.7 million annually.
The juvenile justice administration told the Northampton County Council on Nov. 5 that the center is facing significant staffing shortages and that a portion of services are purchased from outside residential providers at high cost.
"We continue to struggle filling youth care worker positions. We are currently at 17 filled positions out of the 42, leaving us with 25 vacancies," the juvenile justice director said (00:30:05).
The director reported a current census of 27 residents — 19 in detention and 8 in treatment — and said the salaries line reflects an 80% staffing assumption with a 20% vacancy factor for youth care workers.
On subcontracted placement costs, the director said about 10 children were currently in residential placements at roughly $4,600 per day each, which "comes out to about 1,600,000.0, 1,700,000.0 for a year" when aggregated (00:41:09). The director said placements are used when children cannot be sustained in the county's open treatment program.
Officials also said that some families contribute to placement costs via parental payment revenue and that the county budgets placement and in-home services within the juvenile services lines.
No formal actions occurred during the presentation; the session was an informational budget review.
