Youth & Families

We encourage family visits, telephone contact, and written correspondence to assist with the youth’s treatment, programming, and reentry planning. Many important decisions are made for youth while they are committed to DYS, and our agency would like to have participation from the families and social supporters of these young men and women with making these decisions.

Research has found that family visitation of incarcerated youth is associated with improved behavior and school performance. DYS recently upgraded its visitation process, making it easier for family and loved ones to register as visitors and begin in-person visitation (although please note that in-person visitation is currently suspended due to COVID-19). Additionally, DYS has partnered with GTL for video visitation, which reduces the financial burden of family members taking time off work and traveling to a facility, but still allows the family to see their loved one when talking.

Please contact your youth’s case manager or juvenile parole officer for further information on how to become a member of the decision-making team.

The agency is committed to providing support and opportunities to introduce youth to a steady path which will assist them in becoming successful adults through reentry. Reentry is the process of preparing and planning for youth who have spent time in a DYS facility to transition back to his/her home community. The DYS philosophy for reentry is comprehensive and contains individualized actions steps, beginning when a youth enters a facility and continuing through the youth’s discharge from parole, in order to help that youth achieve a successful, crime-free life.