Press Releases
Advocates Applaud DYRS Director’s AccomplishmentsNovember 30, 2009
Washington, D.C. - Today, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed Vincent Schiraldi as Commissioner of Probation. Youth advocates from the District of Columbia applaud Schiraldi for his accomplishments during his tenure over the past five years as Director of the DC Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS), especially the replacement of Oak Hill, an inhumane institution that was the subject of lawsuits for two decades, with the New Beginnings facility as well as investing financial resources to more effective community-based alternatives to incarceration.
"Under DYRS Director Schiraldi's leadership, the District's juvenile justice system has ended a failed experiment on the children in our nation's capitol that has been marked for decades by warehousing children in rat-infested rooms, abuses by guards, little to no educational programming, and high rates of reoffending," says Liz Ryan, President & CEO of the Campaign for Youth Justice. "We appreciate Vincent Schiraldi's efforts and call on the Mayor and the D.C. Council to continue these effective reforms."
"For too long, Oak Hill represented the abusive and inhumane confinement of hundreds of D.C.'s youth and an ineffective approach to reducing juvenile delinquency," said Justice for D.C. Youth Director, Shani O'Neal. "JDCY commends Vincent Schiraldi for closing this institution and providing us with an office inside New Beginnings. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first youth advocacy organization to have a permanent presence inside a juvenile correctional facility."
"The District should be proud of the work of Vincent Schiraldi as he has sought to ensure that our children are treated with respect and given the tools they need to become successful adults in the community," said Eduardo Ferrer, Executive Director of D.C. Lawyers for Youth. "It is critical that the Mayor further these important reforms."
Advocates Applaud Mayor, DYRS on Oak Hill Closure
May 28, 2009
Today, Justice for D.C. Youth (JDCY) applauds Mayor Adrian Fenty and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) for the pending closure of the Oak Hill Youth Center (OHYC), on Thursday, May 29. Justice for D.C. Youth has been advocating for this since 2001 when then Mayor Anthony Williams' Blue Ribbon Commission recommended its closure. DYRS will provide office space for JDCY at the New Beginnings Youth Development Center, the newer, smaller facility which will replace Oak Hill, to operate JDCY's mentoring and leadership development program for youth at the facility. The closure of Oak Hill is required by comprehensive reform legislation, the Omnibus Juvenile Justice Amendment Act of 2004 (D.C. Law 15-261), which was approved by the D.C. Council on November 9, 2004.
Guest Columns
From Prison to CollegeApril 21, 2009
Educational institutions are relying more and more on disciplinary methods to suppress what many consider typical adolescent behavior. In so doing, some youth are guided directly from school suspensions or expulsions to a path of convictions and prison sentences. These are the characteristics of what researchers have termed the "school-to-prison pipeline," through which young people are increasingly funneled into the juvenile justice system. The non-profit student organization Justice for D.C. Youth's mission is to advocate a fairer and more effective juvenile justice system in Washington with the goal of shifting the city's priorities from incarceration to education. Through my work with JDCY, I attended a conference about this issue where we learned that, in the United States, a black man born in 2001 has a one in three chance of going to prison in his lifetime and a Latino man has a one in six chance.
Stories of Interest
After Jana’e Solomon’s brother was arrested, she was hurt and upset. Then she got busy.November 10, 2009:
Last year, she joined Justice for DC Youth, a nonprofit founded in 2001 that is fighting to reform the district’s juvenile justice system. JDCY believes D.C. youth are disproportionately affected by crime and the criminal justice system. It works not only to support youth in the system, but to move the system away from incarceration to education. These goals resonated with Jana’e, 21. “Being a black young woman, I have firsthand witness to some of those disparities,” she said. “I took it upon myself to kind of just get involved and see what I could do to give back and maybe prevent another life from being wasted through incarceration.”
Oak Hill Center Emptied And Its Baggage Left Behind
By Robert E. Pierre
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 29, 2009
The handwritten inscriptions in a stone garden inside the razor-wire gates of the Oak Hill Youth Center explain why thousands of the District's juveniles, since 1967, ended up behind bars. I wanted to belong. Too Many Narcotics. Wrong Place at the Wrong Time aka Loafing. I love the Hood Life. Did not Listen. On the Run.
Everybody at Oak Hill, it seemed, was running from something. The inmates from their decisions to rob, steal cars, sell drugs and kill. Corrections officers from a reputation as brutal overseers. The D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services from a past in which youths lived in squalor, were beaten and went home more violent than when they arrived.
New Start for Oak Hill Youth CenterBy Claudia Coffey
myfoxdc
May 29, 2009
A Laurel, Maryland youth rehabilitation center has gotten a major makeover and a brand new location-and, many say, they hope a new image will come right along with it. The razor wire is history, along with the old name and a bad reputation. The youth rehabilitation center known as Oak Hill as closed for good. A half-mile down the road, a new facility called The New Beginnings Youth Development Center has officially opened in its place.
Inmates from Notorious Youth Facility Transferred to New HomeNews Channel 8
May 29, 2009
WASHINGTON - The last inmates at the District of Columbia's notorious Oak Hill Youth Center have been transferred to a new facility. About two dozen young men boarded a bus Thursday for the half-mile journey to a new $46 million, 30-acre campus. Instead of razor wire and huge cell keys, New Beginnings Youth Center has a landscaped courtyard, lots of windows and electronic entry cards.