Public health emergency over at Wayne County Juvenile Detention Center
HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – The Wayne County Juvenile Detention Center public health emergency is over after addressing staffing and overcrowding conditions.
"All hands were on deck, and everyone was willing to really assist us in the best way that they could to help us address the needs of our young people," Commissioner Alisha Bell, Chair of the Wayne County Commission, said.
When Wayne County Executive Warren Evans declared a public health emergency at the juvenile detention center, 134 kids were waiting for their day in court or waiting for bed space at a long-term facility. It's now down to 113.
"Unfortunately, with COVID and a myriad of other reasons, they were there much too long. So now they're just operating the way it's supposed to operate," Bell said.
Using $10 million allocated to improve conditions, Wayne County raised wages by 35% across the board, allowing them to hire 54 additional people.
"That allowed us to create a classification system, meaning rather than having 50 kids in a unit in a pod, as we call them, we were able to have no more than 20 and separating them by age and size. That allowed us to staff at twice the rate that we had operating before," Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, Wayne County Health, Human, and Veterans Services Director, told CBS News Detroit.
That staff now reports two new deputy directors who are overseeing day-to-day operations.
Over the last 11 weeks, the county has worked closely with the state of Michigan to find more bed space and with the courts to ensure that any child who doesn't need to be in the facility does not wind up there.
"One of the big things that we're trying to do now is build in-facility mental health treatment for youths who have been adjudicated, meaning they require a long-term residential stay bed, but haven't necessarily gotten one," El-Sayed said.
For that, they're partnering up with the Team Wellness Center beginning next Thursday.
"They are in a much better position than they were a few months ago. Their safety is of utmost importance to us, and making sure that they get the treatment that they need," Bell said.
Wayne County is searching nationwide for a new director facility and chief administrator.