Juvenile detention center recommended for accreditation
Louisiana's Office of Juvenile Justice may have accomplished some goals set forth by a 2010 Juvenile Justice Implementation Commission that set to decrease the the number of youth in the correctional system and sought to receive accreditation for facilities.
The American Correctional Association (ACA) has found the Swanson Center for Youth (SCY) more than adequate in the standards it has created to determine the quality of a juvenile facility. ACA auditors stated that the SCY was 100 percent compliant on 38 mandatory standards and 97.45 percent compliant on 329 non-mandatory standards.
"Meeting the ACA standards does not happen overnight," said Mary Livers, deputy secretary of the Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice. "The fact that the staff and the youth work together every day to meet the highest standards means that everyone involved takes personal responsibility for their part in meeting the mission."
According to data provided on the ACA website, the organization's ideal system would comprise of an excellently trained and qualified staff, services reflecting quality assurance in the community and residential services utilizing a therapeutic model.
