From Staff Reports
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Board of Juvenile Affairs recently approved an updated State Plan for the Establishment of Juvenile Detention Services, which will determine the number of juvenile detention beds necessary for the state’s current needs and the locations of those needed beds. The plan also determines the number of juvenile detention beds for which the Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA) will pay.
Board members also approved new contract guidelines as well as rates, following through on key recommendations of last year’s performance audit by a private firm selected by the Agency Performance and Accountability Commission. The new rates include a Tier I rate to recognize detention centers that provide higher standards in the areas of education, mental health and quality of life. The current state juvenile detention services plan was adopted in 2008 and called for 365 juvenile detention beds. Since then, two juvenile detention centers have forfeited contracts with OJA. Creek County commissioners, who have 16 licensed juvenile beds in their center, do not have a contract with OJA.
The number of OJA-contracted juvenile beds for the current 2020 fiscal year is 296. The proposed updated plan calls for 266 juvenile detention beds in 14 counties across the state. The plan will take effect July 1. Each county is responsible for the secure detention of their juveniles. Detention centers in four counties - Oklahoma, Tulsa, Canadian and Comanche - are operated by the local county juvenile bureaus. OJA contracts with county commissioners for secure juvenile detention centers. Counties that do not have detention centers contract with other counties that do have centers.
The detention centers are not OJA facilities but are operated by county employees or a subcontractor selected by the county commissioners of the host county. OJA pays 85% of the approved operating costs for each bed, while counties pick up the remaining 15% of the operating costs when the bed is occupied by a child from their county. Not every child in a detention center is in OJA custody. Oklahoma law only allows secure detention of juveniles in necessary circumstances, including while the juvenile’s legal case is pending adjudication and pending placement identified by OJA for juveniles and youthful offenders in OJA custody.