COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Earlier this month, Gov. Mike DeWine formed the Ohio Juvenile Justice Working Group. He tasked them with undergoing a thorough review of juvenile justice operations at the Ohio Department of Youth Services (DYS). 

The group met for the first time today. The biggest takeaway is that detention numbers are up and staffing numbers are down. The group believes that having more youth services staff, or even being fully staffed, would help reduce violence. 

The group will review and offer recommendations on a wide range of topics like youth safety, education, reentry support, and health and mental health services. 

According to Youth Services Director, Amy Ast, structure, consistency, and predictability is critical. Not only for the kids they serve, but for the staff as well. That’s why the group will also focus on staffing levels and staff safety, training, recruitment, and retention. 

Ohio is not the only state dealing with these unprecedented shortages. The Council of State Government surveyed over 200 juvenile justice agencies nationwide and said all agencies in Ohio reported challenges with hiring and retaining front-line facility staff. Staff vacancy rates are as high as 40% in some locales. 

“So the vacancies are a constant and a true factor. We’re literally doing more with less staff. Just imagine if we were fully staffed, I said earlier in a slide that our youth are staying longer, that we have more youth coming in than we have leaving,” said Ast, “What could we do differently with more staff? There’s no doubt having more staff, being fully staffed would reduce violence in our facilities and it would give more staff an opportunity to de-escalate youth prior to them getting in a crisis state.”

The number one reason, according to officials, for the crisis in juvenile justice staff retention was the emotional nature of the cases that led to staff burnout. 

In Franklin County, there are 21 current vacancies for juvenile detention officers. There are two crisis counselors on staff and the facility has added a full time worker from Nationwide Children’s hospital who is supplementing that because a lot of kids coming in are in crisis and they’re staying longer. 

Because of this, Franklin County is working to recruit and retain staff. NBC4 asked Franklin County Domestic Relations and Juvenile Court Administrator Monica Kelson what they’re doing to help the shortage. In a statement she said, “We have hosted open interviews, done radio ads, distributed flyers, advertised on electronic billboards throughout the city as well as formed partnerships with local universities through volunteer efforts and internships. The safety of our staff and youth is of utmost importance and we are committed to continuing and expanding these efforts.” 

In the meeting this morning Kelson said, “Our goal is to only send kids to DYS who truly need to be there. So that is never a first effort or sort of catch all that we utilize because we really focus on rehabilitating youth. So, the kids that we do send from Franklin County to DYS have exhausted every other possibility of treatment and really are there one for treatment and two for the safety of the community.”

Director Ast said that the Ohio Department of Youth Services has the funding to hire the necessary staff, the problem is finding people who want to do it. 

The group will meet again in December – this time the meeting will be in person.