The Terrebonne Parish Juvenile Detention Center is established to provide short-term care in the secured custody of juveniles who are accused, adjudicated pending court action, awaiting transfer to another facility, and who cannot be served in an open setting. Specifically, the facility’s goals are the following:

• Provide for the juveniles’ basic needs, such as shelter, food, clothing, and medical care



• Prevent the intentional abridgement of the juveniles’ legal rights during their detainment



• Provide for the physical, emotional, religious, educational, and social needs of the juveniles during detainment



• House the juveniles in a safe and humane environment, maintaining the level of security necessary to prevent escape and assure that the juveniles live free of fear from assault or intimidation by staff or other juveniles

• The Administration of the Terrebonne Parish Juvenile Detention Center is committed to the operation and management of this facility at the highest level of professionalism.



• The Administration of the Terrebonne Parish Juvenile Detention Center recognizes the enormous responsibility its employees have in dealing with the juveniles who are detained in this facility; therefore, high ethical and moral standards on the part of all detention staff are essential.



• The Administration of the Terrebonne Parish Juvenile Detention Center supports separate programs for dependent youth who are in need of secure shelter and services and advocates the development and use of programs for dependent youth in need of alternative placement.



• The Administration of the Terrebonne Parish Juvenile Detention Center recognizes that detention is an important correctional placement. It is important that we facilitate the youth’s return home or placement by encouraging contacts with parents, attorneys, and significant others.



• The Terrebonne Parish Juvenile Detention Center must make every effort to provide for the juveniles’ safety and well-being and protect them from physical or emotional harm.



• No juvenile detained in the Terrebonne Juvenile Detention Center will be discriminated against based on his/her race, national origin, color, creed, sex, or physical handicap. All juveniles will receive equal access to all programs and work assignments.

The juveniles’ stay in detention should be a caring (nurturing), productive, and disciplined experience in their lives. The detention program is designed to meet each juvenile’s nutritional, emotional, spiritual, educational, recreational, hygienic and physical needs while in detention. Therefore, the following goals and objectives have been established to meet the facility’s mission and philosophy.

1. GOAL: The Terrebonne Parish Juvenile Detention Center seeks to maximize public safety through appropriate and effective custodial and supervisory programs.
   
   OBJECTIVE: To maximize public safety the TPJDC has a primary goal of zero escapes.



2. GOAL: The Terrebonne Parish Juvenile Detention Center seeks to provide for the safety of staff and juveniles by maintaining an organized and disciplined system of operations that promote stability in the facility’s operations.
   
   OBJECTIVE: The TPJDC is committed to the goal that no staff while on duty, nor youth while in our custody, should receive significant injuries. The following categories will be summarized each year:


1. Death by Suicide
2. Death by Violence
3. Gunshots
4. Stabbing
5. Battery (Juvenile/Staff with Significant Injury)
6. Battery (Juvenile/Juvenile with Weapon with Significant Injury)
7. Battery (Juvenile/Juvenile without Significant Injury)
8. Battery (Juvenile/Juvenile with Significant Injury)


3. GOAL: The Terrebonne Parish Juvenile Detention Center seeks to insure the basic well-being of the juveniles by providing adequate food, clothing, medical care and shelter, equal access to programs, and educating the mind, body and spirit of each youth housed within the center.
   
   OBJECTIVE: The TPJDC should measure the effectiveness of this goal by evaluating the following:


1. The Director and assigned registered dietician will review the menus periodically to assure it meets necessary nutritional and caloric guidelines.
2. The Director will select and review a bi-annual inventory to monitor the adequate supply of clothing in storage.
3. The medical supervisor will review medical reports to determine the availability of services.
4. The annual Sanitation and Fire Marshal reports will be reviewed to determine the effectiveness in providing adequate housing for youth. Resident grievance forms should be reviewed weekly to determine the number of juvenile grievances that are related to providing adequate food, medical care, clothing, shelter, and equal access to all programs offered.


4. GOAL: The Terrebonne Parish Juvenile Detention Center seeks to provide an environment which enables behavior changes by making rehabilitative opportunities available for juveniles who demonstrate motivation for change and the desire to participate in rehabilitative programs.
   
   OBJECTIVE: The Director will:
   
   1. monitor and review education programs to include classroom programs, educational records, and reviews of actual work completed by the juvenile detained in the TPJDC
   2. monitor and review social service programs to include review of records of juvenile receiving individual, group or family counseling, and the availability of services
   3. monitor and review services provided by clergy, ministers, and community volunteers who provide religious or other programming to the juveniles housed in the TPJDC

The Terrebonne Parish Juvenile Detention Center will offer programs in the following areas:

1. Evaluation and Prescription



The facility social worker will have the following responsibilities:

1. assess juvenile’s strengths and weaknesses through the use of a variety of screening techniques
2. identify any difficulties experienced by juveniles in school and transmit that information as needed
3. distribute assessment data collected as needed
4. arrange for any specialized psychological testing deemed essential or court ordered
5. assist in compiling a diagnostic perspective of each juvenile’s educational, medical, social/emotional needs to school, court, or other involved agencies/individuals


2. Education


1. The goal of this program is the following:


1. provide an education experience that promotes achievement and replaces patterns of failure with patterns of success
2. provide educational services that motivate juveniles to continue their education
3. provide occupational and vocational counseling emphasizing the skills, knowledge, and attitudes required for employment
4. introduce community resources to the juveniles


2. The facility offers training to the juveniles in their academic and social development to include but not be limited to the following programs:


1. Core Academic Curriculum and GED Instruction
2. Personal Health and Hygiene
3. Mental Health
4. Anger and Conflict Resolution
5. Personal Finance
6. Religious Services
7. Gender Sensitive Training
8. Drug Education Programming
9. Job
10. Any and all social skills development as deemed necessary to meet the needs of the juveniles

These sessions should do the following

• deal primarily with coping skills for daily detention living and secondly with the problems that may arise after release



• provide information to juveniles to reduce anxieties about their living situations



• improve the quality of staff-to-juvenile relationships, helping juveniles respond more positively to adults as authority figures



• assist juveniles in solving problems for themselves



• assist juveniles in making the connections between behavior and positive and negative consequences

These sessions should do the following

• provide activities that improve a juvenile’s self-image through personal skill development and increased opportunities for achievement and success



• provide activities that expend energy and allow physical and psychological release for juveniles