After decades of setbacks, years of controversy, and multiple legislative hearings, it’s easy to be skeptical about anything really changing at the Arkansas Division of Youth Services (DYS). A recent legislative hearing about the large numbers of youth being held in Juvenile Detention Facilities is perhaps the latest “flash point” in the state’s juvenile system. Perhaps as is usually the case, the positive developments are less dramatic or newsworthy, but good things are happening. They are real and they are being closely monitored.

Commitments to the Division of Youth Services have been going down, the number of current beds at the Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center in Alexander has decreased by forty in the last year. Also, more resources are being put into local communities to keep youth from entering large institutions that are continually being admonished for poor outcomes and inadequate care. A lot of this can be attributed to a new attitude and enduring leadership within DYS. With support from the National Center for Youth Law and the Public Welfare Foundation, a two-year effort to develop a comprehensive plan and implementation strategy is now underway. It’s about doing the research, developing the message, and showing results. It is a complex, difficult, and sometimes intractable system to change, but maybe, just maybe, things are about to change. I invite you to take a look at the DYS Comprehensive Plan and see what you think.