By Alex Paul
Linn County Communications
Linn County Juvenile Department Director Torri Lynn has joined with juvenile directors from around the state who are concerned about the lack of investigations concerning allegations of abuse at Oregon Youth Authority facilities.
Lynn has worked with the Linn County Juvenile Department for 30 years and has been the department director for 20 years. Lynn also serves as the Legislative Chair of the Oregon Juvenile Department Directors’ Association and served as president from 2015-17.
He concurs with Christina McMahan, Clackamas County juvenile director and president of the Oregon Juvenile Department Director’s Association when it comes to issues with the Oregon Youth Authority.
“We are concerned about the Oregon Youth Authority’s backlog of investigations involving our youth that we recently learned about in February, and the escalation of concerning information that has come to light in the last few weeks regarding the safety of youth committed to the Oregon Youth Authority,” McMahan said recently.
Lynn said that when a county juvenile director places a young person at an Oregon Youth Authority facility, “It should be an exceptional facility.”
And even though the county juvenile department is not operated by the OYA, the county operation is considered “the face of juvenile justice in Linn County. Questions come from attorneys, judges, parents, kids and community partners. We have to be able to assure them that when we place kids with the OYA, those kids are going to be safe.”
Lynn said local people don’t call the OYA, they “ask the local county juvenile departments.”
Lynn said 90 percent of youth in the juvenile justice system are placed at the county level. Only about 2% of youth, considered high-risk, are housed at OYA facilities.
“But this is part of the continuum of services and if one part of that continuum is not functioning properly, it affects the whole system,” Lynn said.
The OJDDA is ready to actively engage and participate in a review of safety issues and other concerns with other public safety stakeholders regarding the Oregon Youth Authority, and to partner in identifying necessary changes to make sure all justice-involved youth in Oregon experience safe and secure environments.
“We believe such a review will lead to recommendations for needed changes and system improvements to prevent harm to youth committed to Oregon Youth Authority and anything like this from ever happening again,” McMahan said.
Moving forward, OJDDA expects OYA will partner with it to address several critical areas:
- A commitment from the Oregon Youth Authority to collaborate and engage with local juvenile departments to ensure consistent and safe practices regarding youth in closed custody, as well as youth involved in parole and probation services.
- Open transparency by OYA to ensure accountability when it involves not only the safety of the facilities, but any youth who is under the supervision of OYA.
- Continued work on the project to modernize the Juvenile Justice Information System (JJIS) that provides for real-time information about our youth and system accountability.
OJDDA Background
The mission of the OJDDA is to shape state and local juvenile justice policy and practices by promoting:
- Public safety through reduction in juvenile crime
- Evidence based practices
- Leadership that creates strategic direction
- A fair and equitable juvenile justice system
Oregon’s 36 county juvenile departments serve youth, families, victims, and the public across the spectrum of services, from prevention, community-based supervision and interventions, youth detention facilities, and reentry into the community.