NCJ Number
168895
Date Published
1997
Length
35 pages
Annotation
This report presents the results of an inspection of the Glen Mills School (GMS), a 950-bed institution located in Concordville, Pa., to which juvenile delinquents from West Virginia are committed.
Abstract
The inspection took place on June 3 and 4, 1996. Sixteen West Virginia youths were reportedly housed in GMS on the dates of inspection. The inspection focused on costs, outcomes, initial impressions of GMS, the characteristics and opinions of GMS residents from West Virginia, the target population and rehabilitation model of GMS, and the physical facility. Results indicated that GMS has been more successful than other youth correctional programs in rehabilitating very serious juvenile offenders. The positive peer culture model appeared to be a good fit to the target population, because many of the youths had reportedly experienced a negative peer culture such as youth gangs or drug distribution networks. The staff resisted an analysis of the touch component of confronting negative behaviors; these techniques may not represent child abuse, but they would be inappropriate to use on the vast majority of West Virginia delinquents. The inspection panel concluded that although GMS had several strengths, it was an inappropriate and risky placement for most West Virginia delinquents, due to the distance from families and professionals, the minimal contact between the youth and attorneys for aftercare planning as required by State law, and the differences between the West Virginia delinquents and the GMS target population of youth with gang affiliations, long histories of violent offending, or both. It is recommended that the leadership of GMS and State juvenile justice officials review this report and that the West Virginia Supreme Court establish standards to guide dispositional decisions by circuit court judges. Footnotes and text of letter from the GMS managing director