The Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) is a state agency of Mississippi, headquartered in Jackson.[1] The department operates the state's family services.
The Division of Youth Services (DYS) operates juvenile correctional facilities.[2] One, Oakley Training School, is open, while Columbia Training School has been closed. The two training schools are 125 miles (201 km) apart from one another.[3]
As of 2003 the majority of children committed to the training schools were non-violent offenders.[4] Originally a judge could order child to attend a training school for minor offenses, up to and, including felony charges. On July 1, 2010, new legislation states that only a child who commits a felony or a child who commits three or more misdemeanors could be sentenced to go to a training school. Male juveniles who engage in serious or repeat behaviors and are certified as adults may be asked to go to the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility, a privately operated facility of the Mississippi Department of Corrections in Walnut Grove, Mississippi.[5] David M. Halfbinger of The New York Times said in 2003 that the MDHS juvenile correctional facilities "look more like rural community colleges -- low-slung, cinder-block buildings scattered across sun-baked meadows, ringed by chain-link fencing -- than the prisons they effectively are."[6]
In early 2020, the state auditor's office arrested John Davis, the former director of the agency and a number of others in what was described as a widespread fraud scheme that diverted aid for the poor into personal profit.[7]
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Main article: Oakley Youth Development Center |
The Oakley Youth Development Center, formerly the Oakley Training School (OTS), is located in Oakley in unincorporated Hinds County.[8] Oakley has a capacity of 150 students.[9] Oakley Training School, also known as the Mississippi Youth Correctional Complex (MYCC), is located on a 1,068-acre (432 ha) plot of land surrounded by agricultural fields; the State of Mississippi states that the complex is about a 30-minute commute from Jackson.[4]
MDHS owns the Columbia Training School, located in unincorporated Marion County, near Columbia,[10][11] in southern Mississippi.[6] The state estimates that Columbia is a two and one half hour commute from the school to Gulfport.[12] Columbia is located between Hattiesburg and McComb.[6] The Columbia Training School is located on over 1,000 acres (400 ha) of land. The unfenced complex is surrounded by farmland.[12] Grantier Architecture designed a 10,000 square feet (930 m2) addition and renovation of the school.[13]
On Wednesday June 11, 2008, the final 11 girls at the facility were transferred to another facility in Oakley.[14] The state had paroled the other 26 remaining girls into community-based programs.[15] On June 30, 2008, the Columbia campus was closed.[16] The state closed Columbia because of a desire to save money and concerns about the operation of the facility.[17] When Columbia was open, Oakley took boys ages 15–18, while Columbia took boys 10-14 and girls 10–18.[18] Before desegregation, Columbia housed White children of both sexes; the desegregation plan around the 1970s required Columbia to house girls of all races and boys under 15 years of age of all races.[3] Officials stated that they would like for Columbia to be transformed into a drug treatment center.[14]
