Tuscarawas County withdraws from juvenile attention system
NEW PHILADELPHIA — Tuscarawas County has withdrawn from the Multi-County Juvenile Attention System (MCJAS) and will be contracting for detention services with Muskingum County.
Commissioners voted unanimously on Monday to make the change, acting on the recommendation of Probate/Juvenile Judge Adam Wilgus. The withdrawal is effective Dec. 31, and the 10-year contract with Muskingum County begins on Jan. 1, 2023.
Tuscarawas County has been a member of the Multi-County Juvenile Attention System since 1973. Membership in the system in 2022 cost the county $1.4 million for juvenile detention.
Previously, MCJAS offered a boys group home as well as a residential treatment center to its member counties. Both of those services have been eliminated in recent years. At this time, MCJAS membership only provides juvenile detention and a girls group home.
Wilgus said he has been reassessing everything in his court, looking to see if there are better ways of doing things. He has been looking at juvenile detention for the past year and studying how other counties do it.
The county is spending $1.4 million annually to put a juvenile in a cell, but not getting much more at this point, he said.
"The opportunity with Muskingum County is really going to benefit not only Tuscarawas County taxpayers but also most importantly the juveniles that are in detention," he said.
The Muskingum County contract will cost Tuscarawas County $233,600 annually.
Wilgus noted that the new arrangement will come with many benefits.
Muskingum County has counselors who go to the attention center in Zanesville and provide treatment for juveniles while they are detained.
In addition, the county offers remote visitation.
"Sometimes parents, because of work schedules or other commitments, they're not able to go and visit with the kids that are detained at our attention center in person. They are offering remote visitation with family members," he said.
The detention center also offers enhanced educational opportunities. The center provides Individual Education Plans (IEPs) for juveniles. It can reassess kids to see if their IEP needs adjusted and it can develop IEPs, the judge said.
It also has the ability to help juveniles study and get their GEDs, and it offers school year round, he said.
"I think there's a huge advantage there," Wilgus said.
The center provides laptops for the kids, so that they can log on to their home school district's website and continue their education.
The judge described security at the facility as "phenomenal."
"I think it is going to keep the kids safer and also will be increased oversight," he said.
He noted," I just felt like, after reviewing all of this, the contracting with Muskingum County, without any question in my mind, is definitely what's best for Tuscarawas County and Tuscarawas County juveniles."
Tuscarawas County will be saving $1.1 million annually with the new contract.
"Instead of spending that money just to put a juvenile in a cell, we're going to utilize some of that money to increase our juvenile alcohol and drug treatment and prevention," Wilgus said.
That program is still being developed.
The existing juvenile attention center on Reiser Avenue SE in New Philadelphia, which was built with Multi-County Juvenile Attention System funds, remains the property of MCJAS
"For us to use that facility is costing us $1.4 million a year," Wilgus said.
He said he has heard concerns from people about whether it is a good idea to transport juveniles out of the county. But he noted that MCJAS has been considering closing the Tuscarawas County facility as a cost-savings measure.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Tuscarawas County withdraws from juvenile attention system
