To learn more about the role, responsibility, and job opportunities working in the juvenile justice system, review the following resources:

• Watch Working as a Group Life Coordinator – MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility
• Watch Juvenile Justice: Detention – What’s It Like?
• Watch Juvenile Correctional Officers
• Check out Jobs at OYA – Oregon Youth Authority to learn more

10.11.1 Juvenile Detention

When I graduated from college with a BA in psychology, I applied for a job working with the Division of Youth Corrections in Denver, CO. I worked in a Residential Treatment Facility (RTC), which used behavior modification techniques, assigned case-workers to each youth and their families, and attempted to help the kids learn problem-solving skills and accountability. Youth were confined for a variety of reasons, from committing gang-affiliated drive-by shootings, to youth who were designated dependent youth through social services and had nowhere else to go. We had high-risk kids, low-risk kids, conduct disorder, and mental health kids all together in the same unit. Having a mix of all these different kids is not a great formula; the low-risk kids learn negative behavior from the high-risk kids, and the conduct disorder kids victimize the mental health kids. In an ideal institution, these different populations would all be on separate units.

Working with youth is hard. They push boundaries, are angry, try to manipulate those around them, and reject authority. However, working with youth is exceptionally rewarding. They are kids. They come from abusivue and neglectful homes and are yearning for approval and love. For example, one boy in our facility was named Josh. He was a super angry and violent 16-year-old who was sentenced for committing aggravated assault. Through working with counselors and caseworkers, we discovered his anger was hiding immense sadness. He lashed out at those around him when he was sad because he had no way to show his feelings other than through aggression. Many months of working with him, encouraging him to journal, express his feelings, talk with others, and use other tools to help him with his sadness led to amazing results. He left our facility after more than a year, graduated from high school, and even went to college! Getting the individualized attention helped Josh change. He became a success story of the juvenile justice system.

Working with youth takes patience, consistency, and compassion. It is one of the most difficult jobs, but it can be a very positive influence in the lives of kids who need it the most. If you are interested in working with youth, plan on committing to at least a year. Incarcerated kids are used to having people give up on them and disappoint them, so you do not want to add to their negative experiences. Show up, follow through, and be optimistic about a better future for justice-involved youth (Burke, 2018).