Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Juvenile Detention topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Saratoga County committee approves updated participation agreement for regional juvenile detention facility
Summary
The county’s Public Safety Committee approved a resolution authorizing an amended participation agreement with the Capitol District Youth Center, Inc. and the other participating Capital District counties to secure reserved beds at a redeveloped juvenile detention facility, citing post–Raise the Age capacity needs and per‑day operating rates.
A Saratoga County Public Safety Committee member identified in the transcript as Patrick presented and the committee approved a resolution authorizing the county chairman to execute an amended and restated participation agreement with the Capitol District Youth Center, Inc. and the other participating Capital District counties to use and operate a regional juvenile secure detention facility, effective Jan. 1, 2026.
The committee approved the resolution at the June meeting after brief questions. Patrick said the counties originally formed the regional facility in 1996 as a cost‑efficient way to meet Article 3 of the Family Court Act, which he cited as the counties’ responsibility to provide secure detention services for juveniles under court order. “This request is for the chairman of the board to sign an amended and restated participation agreement,” he said.
Why it matters: The facility has been redeveloped and expanded since the state’s Raise the Age changes; the presenter said the facility now consists of 39 beds, up from 16 when the partnership began. The amended agreement includes a reserved‑beds provision that Patrick said will allow Saratoga County to secure its allocated beds and, if necessary, displace another participating county’s use of one of those beds to ensure Saratoga’s access.
Operational and cost details: In the discussion the presenter described per‑day rates quoted in the transcript as roughly $1,438.63 per day for secure detention and about $1,790 per day for specialized secure detention. He reported recent county expenditures related to the facility of approximately $142,807 in 2023, $400,556 in 2025, and about $30,000 in the first quarter of the current year; the 2024 figure in the transcript was garbled and is not specified here.
Committee members asked about Saratoga’s typical share of usage. The presenter said the county usually has two reserved beds in practice, representing a little under 5% of the facility’s capacity, and confirmed that when there are open beds the facility rents them to other counties.
The committee moved the resolution, received a second, and the transcript records the motion as carried; no roll‑call or named tally appears in the excerpt. The resolution also authorized the county attorney’s office to approve the form and content of the agreement and stated there would be no additional budget impact because costs are included in the county’s DSS budget.
Next steps: The committee approved the measure and the chair was authorized to execute the amended agreement; the county attorney’s office was authorized to finalize the agreement form and content.
