After recent incidents at the Bridge City Center for Youth and the Swanson Center for Youth in Monroe, Governor John Bel Edwards has directed the Louisiana State Police and The Department of Corrections to provide personnel to those facilities to help with staffing shortages. Office of Juvenile Justice Spokesperson Nicolette Gordon says they welcome the governor’s assistance…
“We want to keep our youth safe as well as our staff and our community,” said Gordon. “So, what that looks like is more staff inside of our facilities. But right now we are meeting the demands of the shifts.”
Gordon says the staffing shortage hasn’t been limited to guards but extends to service providers needed on-hand to help in the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders and that both are required for these facilities to fulfill their roles.
“We’re talking about our frontline staff,” she said. “That’s our juvenile justice specialists. Those are the people who are on-site, day-to-day, keeping things in order.”
OJJ was provided with $5 million for enhancements during the 2022 Regular Legislative Session that can be accessed immediately. Gordon says that the public can be assured that there has not been any significant increase in incidents at the four state-operated secure care facilities and safety both inside and out remains a priority.
“We’re confident that we are headed in the right direction,” Gordon said. “I can say that with the governor activating the Louisiana State Police and the Department of Corrections to come in…that will curtail some of the things that we have been seeing.”
The Office of Juvenile Justice operates four secure care facilities statewide.
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