Iowa has a juvenile detention dilemma
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Polk County Juvenile Detention Center had to temporarily open an additional wing this month because of an ongoing statewide problem to find enough space for the juvenile population.
Why it matters: Children are being placed further away from their families at a cost of thousands of dollars in overtime and transportation costs for taxpayers.
Catch up fast: The center's staff capacity can accommodate around 33 offenders at a time — some as young as 11 years old — who are under the supervision of juvenile court, Eric Kool, director of Polk County Community, Family and Youth Services, tells Axios.
- Polk had already placed nine offenders in other centers across the state earlier this month but still couldn't find space in other state facilities for the first time.
- "We just never before got to the point where we couldn't find anywhere," Kool said.
State of play: Additional staff and overtime was approved by the county to open the wing for 11 more kids.
- The county was able to find other local detention centers with space and close the wing last week, Kool says, but it could become necessary to reopen if other centers get jammed up again.
By the numbers: The extra costs for the wing haven't been calculated, but it generally costs more than $500 a day for each juvenile, Kool says.
- The county's facility was full and had 14 juveniles placed at other centers as of Friday afternoon.
The big picture: Iowa's residential treatment and group home capacity capacity shrank from around 600 a decade ago to around 360 now.
- That's partly by design in trying to keep more kids with their families, but it's also a product of staff crunches and fewer juvenile facilities, Kool says.
Of note: Some contracts between juvenile facilities and the state are transitioning in the fiscal year that started this month. The recent problems may be alleviated in coming weeks as more space comes online, Kool says.
- The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to Axios' requests for comment.