State juvenile-rehabilitation agency: adult-sentence growth, long stays driving overcrowding at Green Hill

The state Department of Children, Youth & Families said Tuesday that longer adult‑sentence stays and a steady rise in adult‑sentence intakes have driven overcrowding at its secure juvenile facilities, complicating rehabilitative programming and staffing.

“For the record, my name is Jennifer Redmond. I'm assistant Secretary of the Juvenile Rehabilitation, DCYF,” Jennifer Redmond said as she opened the agency’s presentation to the legislative committee. She told members that Green Hill School’s population was about 210, with 74 young people holding release dates that extend beyond age 25.

The agency said Green Hill’s safe operating capacity is about 180. Redmond told the committee that because Juvenile Rehabilitation (JR) is a relatively small system, fluctuations in intakes or slower releases have a disproportionate effect on bed availability. “With the length of sentences going up to age 25, it's contributing to the overcrowding,” she said.

Redmond described the security‑classificat…