NCJ Number
223793
Date Published
2008
Length
39 pages
Annotation
This report provides an overview of Missouri’s Division of Youth Services operations, statistical information on youth served, and outcome indicators for fiscal year 2007.
Abstract
Highlights from the fiscal year 2007 report include: (1) 1,271 youth were committed to the Division of Youth Services (DYS); (2) 81.5 percent of youth committed to DYS were male; (3) the average age of all youth committed was 15.1 years; (4) the average DYS youth had attained 9 years of schooling at the time of commitment; (5) of all youth receiving DYS educational services in 2007, 704 or 30.8 percent were identified as having an educational disability; (6) 621 youth (48.9 percent) had a history of prior mental health services; (7) 727 youth (57.2 percent) had a history of prior substance abuse involvement; (8) 157 youth (12.4 percent) were committed for the most serious felonies (A and B felonies), 482 youth (37.9 percent) were committed for less serious felonies; (9) 143 youth were committed for juvenile offenses; (10) 56.9 percent of all commitments were from single-parent homes; (11) 68.1 percent of youth were committed from metropolitan areas; and (12) 88.5 percent of all discharges from DYS custody were satisfactory. The mission of the Missouri Division of Youth Services is to enable youth to fulfill their needs in a responsible manner with respect for the needs of their families and their communities. The DYS provides an array of services and approaches, such as a continuum of community-based and residential treatment and education services; a case management system; collaboration with local juvenile courts regarding early intervention and prevention efforts; and incorporation of treatment outcome and quality assurance components to evaluate effectiveness and improve service delivery. This annual report provides a summary of descriptive statistics about the youth committed to the care of the DYS as well as pertinent information regarding overall agency operations during fiscal year 2007. Figures and appendixes A-D