Youth center expands

Jace Radke

Thursday, Jan. 4, 2001 | 10:19 a.m.

The Department of Family and Youth Services has jumped ahead of Southern Nevada's fast-growing population with the completion of five new detention cottages.

The first of the new cottages opened in October, and now with all five open, Clark County's juvenile detention center has more than doubled its number of beds from 112 to 235. The average number of juvenile offenders in the jail at any given time is about 190.

"We are delighted that our dream of having better facilities is now a reality," Kirby Burgess, director of Family and Youth Services, said. "The construction of the detention cottages was very needed."

The cottages are about 10,000 square feet apiece and contain 24 beds each. They also feature day room spaces for each group of 12 beds, and four of the cottages are clustered in pairs to create controlable recreation courtyards.

The continuum of care program allows for young offenders to attend school and work while staying with their families instead of in an institution. The home management is accomplished through an electronic monitoring system that keeps numbers of incarcerated juveniles down, Burgess said.

The program has already saved an estimated $2 million over the past two years, because the cost of electronic monitoring is $17 a day, versus $144 for incarceration.