KEEPING OUR FAMILIES SAFE

Providing Tools For Juvenile Offenders

Juvenile Justice Reform has been in many headlines lately. Our parish is fortunate to have the Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention Center, a nationally recognized and award-winning facility specially designed to house, educate, and care for juveniles arrested and adjudicated delinquent for committing crimes.

“Our goal is to hire positive adult role models to work with the juveniles in our facility to mentor and help equip them with tools for their toolbelts to be better and more productive citizens. This increases the likelihood of them being successful and avoiding adult incarceration,” said Joseph Dominick, the Executive Director of the Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention Center.

For the outstanding work in being a model juvenile detention facility, the Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention Center has been the recipient of the 2016, 2020, and 2023 Barbara Allen-Hagen Award, from the Center for Improving Youth Justice, a nationally-

recognized award in juvenile justice.

“Our work focuses on changing criminal thinking and teaching appropriate behaviors to youth, while keeping the public safe,” says Dominick.

While Dominick is optimistic about his program, he also knows violent juvenile crimes are on a rise in the five parishes the Center serves. In 2020, there were 474 juveniles admitted to the center. This past year in 2023, that number rose to 718 admissions.

there are no other placements for these pre-trial youth. The State will not step in and other detention centers only house juveniles arrested in their parishes. Ultimately, and as crazy as it may sound, these kids would be arrested, issued a court summons, and released!”

Dominick and his team have not let the increase in violent crimes dissuade them from their mission. They see each juvenile as a recoverable resource who needs the tools to cope in the community.

The Center works with the Tangipahoa Parish School System to have classes everyday with the ultimate goal of having the juvenile offender graduate with a high school diploma. The Center also works with Northshore Technical Community College to provide workforce training and certifications. This would result in the juvenile offenders being able to obtain a good paying job when they are released and have a pathway to success rather than returning to their old crime habits.

That latest feather in the cap of the Center is the creation of a fully functioning robotics program.

“We are proud to be the first and only juvenile detention center in the country to offer a robotics program,” said Dominick. “Through our partnerships with Northshore Robotics, and another local nonprofit, Just 1 Voice, our students are learning how to code, create, and plan robotic movements in a real-life application.”

The goal is to have graduates with robotics experience and knowledge gain local employment opportunities at places such as Medline, IntraLox, and the Amazon Distribution Center in Slidell.

The next program the Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention Center is working to implement is a Drivers Education class. Without a way to get a license to drive, many juveniles would not have the necessary means to travel to work. This would help eliminate another barrier on their road to living a successful life.

Dominick sees and experiences the many accomplishments as a result of his team’s and the community’s commitment to holding juvenile offenders accountable and providing real opportunity for rehabilitating them. Funding for the operation of the Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention Center comes from a three mill property tax in Tangipahoa, St. Tammany, Livingston, Washington and St. Helena Parishes. The renewal of the millage will be on the April 27, 2024 ballot in all five parishes.

“We have been very good stewards of taxpayer dollars. We will keep our communities safe from violent offenders, while providing these at-risk juveniles the structure they need to change criminal thinking and the opportunity to become productive members of society.”