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Arkansas DYS says new intake, assessment and treatment teams reduced detention use and steadied residential population
Summary
Director Michael Crump described restructuring at the Division of Youth Services: 20 assessment beds, individualized treatment teams and 90‑day reviews have cut juvenile detention center use to single digits and stabilized residential populations (~235 youths), while DYS adds monitoring staff and begins diversion work.
Michael Crump, director of the Division of Youth Services (DYS), told the Senate Children and Youth Committee that the agency has restructured intake and treatment to reduce lengthy stays in detention and improve continuity of care.
Crump said DYS opened a 20‑bed assessment unit at Alexander so youths go from court directly to assessment beds rather than waiting in county juvenile detention centers; assessments now typically take about 20 days. He described multidisciplinary treatment teams that include clinicians, the youth, parents or guardians, community providers, probation officers and education specialists. Each youth now receives an individualized treatment plan and the treatment team meets at least every 90 days to review progress.
The director credited the changes with lowering the number of youths held in county detention centers and stabilizing the DYS residential population. Crump reported that as of Feb. 3 the state had six children in juvenile detention centers (a single‑digit count in recent months) and roughly 235 youths in residential placements, about 187 of whom were in the five facilities operated by DYS. Monthly commitments were running in the mid‑20s.
Crump also described new contract management and oversight positions—case coordinators, payment‑integrity auditors and on‑site monitors—and said DYS is expanding diversion and community‑based services to improve reentry and aftercare. He listed five facilities: Dermott (secure 18–21 facility), Alexander (largest, 100 capacity, assessment beds), Harrisburg (now an all‑girls facility), Mansfield and Lewisville.
Committee members asked about aftercare and recidivism measures. Crump said case coordinators follow youths into aftercare; DYS has begun assembling data to calculate recidivism but does not yet have finalized rates. Questions about subcontractor payment and a hostile‑work‑environment letter involving a provider prompted contract‑management follow‑up; Crump said services to children continued without interruption and corrective steps were under way.
Members thanked DYS for the presentation and said they would follow up for additional data and monitoring details.
