The Tri-County Corrections Board held its monthly meeting on Monday at the Northwest Regional Correction Center.
MONTHLY STATISTICS FROM JAIL AND JUVENILE CENTER
The meeting began with Executive Director Andrew Larson presenting the board with the monthly statistics report from February. The average daily population at the NWRCC was 143 (120 males, 23 females), which brings the year-to-date average population to 137. The most common cases for incarceration included probation violation, failure to appear in court, DUI’s, and assault.
The Juvenile Center saw an average daily population of just over seven. The current placement status shows four minors placed in the recently re-opened secure detention facility and six in the non-secure detention portion of the facility. The most common reasons for placement throughout February included assault, disorderly conduct, and terroristic threats.
UPDATES AT THE JUVENILE CENTER
The Juvenile Center is gradually making more beds available at the facility. Larson explained to the board that although they are fully staffed, more experience must be accumulated before reaching the facility capacity. “We have four staff in total that have over one year of experience out of 16,” said Larson, “Honestly, I think they’ve done a great job, considering the challenging behavior we see. Now that we’ve opened our secure detention, this gives us more options to manage some of the extreme behaviors that we’re seeing.”
Recently, the Juvenile Center staff has been making changes regarding programmatic procedures. They have made efforts to create more structure within the facility and develop more trauma-informed responses, such as sound machines, white noise techniques, and weighted blankets for the kids who show trauma-reactive behaviors. As these procedures become more familiar to staff and juveniles, Larson plans to increase the placement numbers. “We don’t want to be maxed out with a population of 16,” said Larson, “That’s not realistic until staff gets more experience. I had mentioned to the board that it takes about one year to get things figured out in both corrections and juvenile corrections.”
TRI-COUNTY BOARD APPROVES NEW CONTRACTS
The board reviewed new contract agreements, which needed approval. The first contract reviewed was from the Village Family Service regarding counseling services. Larson explained that the corrections center had used these services in the same contract agreement and was searching for renewal. “This contract is for family assessment,” said Larson, “So if we have a child placed and we need to do a behavioral evaluation, one of the elements of that is a family assessment, and we’ve had a relationship with the Village already to do family assessments.” The board approved the new contract agreements, including the Village visiting the juvenile center two hours per week to provide counseling services to kids with behavioral issues.
The final item approved was a contract with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, which included the corrections center receiving grant funding in the amount of $500,000 for two years. The funding will be used to maintain the pretrial supervision program offered through the NWRCC. “Pretrial Supervision is when someone is arrested on a charge,” said Larson, “And the court can modify their release, so they don’t have to sit in jail necessarily. They can be released into the community and supervised by a probation agent while under pretrial status, meaning they have not been convicted.”
The Tri-County Corrections board will meet again on Monday, April 8, at the Northwest Regional Corrections Center.
