The commissioner for the Department of Juvenile Justice said incarcerated youth are currently treated in detention centers or sent out of state.
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky’s Department of Juvenile Justice is hoping to build a new facility dedicated to mental health treatment.
Commissioner Randy White told a budget review committee on Wednesday that there is a high need for the $35 million facility. He said right now, Kentucky’s incarcerated children are treated in detention centers.
However, White said that delays care and is often unsafe for staff and youth.
The department tries to place youth with severe need in private facilities, but often times those children are sent out of state.
“So when we require, or we seek placement of these violent individuals, if we’re fortunate enough to obtain a bed and position and treatment for these individuals, we have to send them far away from their support base, far away from their homes,” White told the committee. “It could be somewhat traumatic for them to move that distance.”
The proposed facility would have 24 beds, 16 for clinical patients and eight for assessment and stabilization needs.
Officials said it would cost more than $12 million annually to operate the facility.
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