JJC Training Academy Graduates 24 Juvenile Detention Officers

SEA GIRT - Twenty-four juvenile detention officers graduated today from the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission’s (JJC) Training Academy. Family members, friends and representatives from the county juvenile detention centers attended the ceremony.

The training of juvenile detention officers by the JJC Academy is the result of a collaboration between JJC and the New Jersey Juvenile Detention Association. The training is designed to provide juvenile detention officers with the tools they need to work with troubled young people, while maintaining order and discipline. As a result of the training effort, county detention centers are safer places for the officers, the juvenile residents and the civilian staff.

“The New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission is pleased to offer this unique training designed specifically for correction officers who work with juveniles,” said Howard L. Beyer, Executive Director of the Juvenile Justice Commission. “As the single state agency charged to reform the juvenile justice system, its makes sense that the JJC provide training specifically tailored to help officers meet the challenges and the very different needs of juvenile residents as opposed to those of adult inmates.

“The JJC is proud of its Training Academy and the state-of-the-art curriculum that its staff has developed to teach officers how to maintain a safe environment for themselves, the juvenile residents and their colleagues,” added Beyer. “Ensuring that custody staff have the knowledge and tools required to do their jobs to the best of their ability plays an important part in helping juveniles turn their lives around. I want to thank the New Jersey Detention Association, and its president, Robert Murray, for working with the JJC to make this project a success.”

In 1999, the JJC was authorized by the Police Training Commission to take over training duties that were previously handled by the New Jersey Department of Corrections (DOC). Prior to creation of the JJC, the DOC was responsible for delinquent juveniles. DOC officers received the same training, whether they were assigned to an adult facility or a juvenile facility.

The JJC trains its own juvenile correction officers and juvenile parole officers under the auspices of the Police Training Commission, and has entered into a partnership with the New Jersey Juvenile Detention Association to offer training for juvenile detention officers employed by the various juvenile detention centers across the state.

The six-week training course is held at the Juvenile Justice Commission/Division of Criminal Justice Satellite Training Academy here. The training includes first-aid/CPR, use of Automated External Defribillators (AED), the history of the family court and juvenile justice system in New Jersey, and defensive tactics

Counties are charged $600 per officer to attend the training, which includes an optional residential component for those officers who live an extended distance from the academy. Officers must receive the training within a year of being hired by their juvenile detention center. Since the JJC began training county juvenile detention officers in 2003, 173 officers have completed the program.

There are 17 county detention centers in New Jersey to service the 21 counties. On a daily basis, there are approximately 800 male and female juveniles being held awaiting court hearings and adjudication. In the course of a year, New Jersey detention centers process approximately 11,300 admissions.

The JJC is the single state agency responsible for providing juvenile correctional rehabilitation and parole services. The JJC cares for New Jersey’s high risk and increasingly vulnerable youth. The agency has a unique opportunity to redirect the lives of juveniles. The JJC operates six secure care facilities and 22 residential community homes and day treatment facilities. In addition, JJC is responsible for parole and transitional services for youth when they return home from the JJC’s custody.

Michael Cleary, Director of the JJC Training Academy, told today’s graduates, “The collaboration between the JJC and the New Jersey Detention Association, and the directors of the individual detention centers, is in the best interest of each organization. We have the same kids and the same goals of enhancing public safety and turning young lives around. Each graduating class produces a more cohesive system of juvenile justice. The men and women graduating today are on the front lines of that effort. I am proud of your performance and congratulate each and every one of you.”

For more information visit: www.njjjc.org

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