Established in August 1974, following community reaction to the suicide of a teenage boy held in a local jail, Coosa Valley Juvenile Detention Center has grown from a 23 bed facility to our current 48 bed capacity. Established as a regional detention program, we currently hold male and female juveniles charged with criminal offenses from our six member counties: Calhoun, Etowah, Talladega, Dekalb, St. Clair and Cherokee. In addition, we also accept juveniles from non-member counties on a space-available basis.
Juveniles held at our detention facility range in age from 10 to 18 years of age. Pursuant to Alabama law, juveniles 16 years or older, who have committed a capital offense, a Class A felony, or a felony involving a deadly weapon, are not held in juvenile facilities. All juveniles housed in our detention facility are here under a court order. Juveniles held are either awaiting adjudication hearings on their delinquent charges or are awaiting placement in a juvenile treatment program. The length of stay varies from less than 24 hours to approximately two months.
Licensed and inspected by the Alabama Department of Youth Services (DYS), the juvenile detention center strives to make a positive impact on the youth we serve by utilizing individual and group counseling, an in-house academic program, on-site medical attention, and a token economy system employing behavioral modification techniques. In addition, our youth are exposed to outside-agency presentations by the Agency for Substance Abuse, the AIDS Services Center, Free-By-Choice, and volunteers from the Junior League and area churches. Through the use of these resources, we attempt to provide a challenging and progressive setting in which youth are given an opportunity to change their lives. For many of our youth, detention represents their last chance before entering the adult criminal justice arena
The program goal of Detention is to provide individualized and short-term treatment to each and every juvenile in our facility. Our Detention program provides a wide-ranging diversity of services that support the juvenile's physical, emotional, and social maturity.
Programs provided for all juveniles minimally include:
Juveniles held at our detention facility range in age from 10 to 18 years of age. Pursuant to Alabama law, juveniles 16 years or older, who have committed a capital offense, a Class A felony, or a felony involving a deadly weapon, are not held in juvenile facilities. All juveniles housed in our detention facility are here under a court order. Juveniles held are either awaiting adjudication hearings on their delinquent charges or are awaiting placement in a juvenile treatment program. The length of stay varies from less than 24 hours to approximately two months.
Licensed and inspected by the Alabama Department of Youth Services (DYS), the juvenile detention center strives to make a positive impact on the youth we serve by utilizing individual and group counseling, an in-house academic program, on-site medical attention, and a token economy system employing behavioral modification techniques. In addition, our youth are exposed to outside-agency presentations by the Agency for Substance Abuse, the AIDS Services Center, Free-By-Choice, and volunteers from the Junior League and area churches. Through the use of these resources, we attempt to provide a challenging and progressive setting in which youth are given an opportunity to change their lives. For many of our youth, detention represents their last chance before entering the adult criminal justice arena
The program goal of Detention is to provide individualized and short-term treatment to each and every juvenile in our facility. Our Detention program provides a wide-ranging diversity of services that support the juvenile's physical, emotional, and social maturity.
Programs provided for all juveniles minimally include:
- Medical and health care
- Orientation
- Education & Counseling
- Recreation
- Library
- Visitation
- Supervision
- Food Service
providing treatment alternatives for Alabama's troubled youth
Serving Northeastern Alabama since 1974
Coosa Valley Youth Services