The Division of Regional Operations provides direction and support to six service regions that provide community, professional, residential, community detention/electronic monitoring, victim and violence prevention services. Historically, the Department has been centrally operated with five service areas. Legislation passed in 2007, SB 359, however, requires DJS to deliver services on a regional basis. The Department regionalized and integrated residential and community functions into six regions.
The newly configured regions are as follows:
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Baltimore Region: Baltimore City |
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Central Region: Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, and Howard Counties |
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Metro Region: Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties |
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Southern Region: Anne Arundel Counties, Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s Counties |
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Western Region: Allegany, Frederick, Garrett , and Washington Counties |
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Eastern Shore Region: Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico, and Worcester Counties |
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The Department regionalized its intake, probation, aftercare, community detention and treatment operations, and is in the process of decentralizing its support services. Regionalization and decentralization will result in a more efficient provision and administration of departmental services and resources by allowing each region to independently manage its allocated services and resources and customize these based on the specific needs of the region. Regionalization ensures that youth under DJS supervision stay connected to their family, service providers, and community. The close proximity of youth to their homes will enhance the Department's capacity for including parents/families in treatment, and facilitate more seamless community reentry/aftercare planning and service delivery. Regionalization enhances communication and collaboration among local stakeholders including families, departmental staff, community service providers, law enforcement, and courts.
The Department is deploying new Regional Directors who will be responsible for the management of all services and resources in each region. The Regional Director will maintain oversight of intake, probation, and aftercare and assume oversight of community detention and all residential programs. Professional services (Behavioral Health, Medical, Education and Placement) and business services (Human Resources, IT, Procurement, and Maintenance) will be decentralized with key staff embedded in the regions but reporting to the Central Office. The DJS Central Office in Baltimore will continue to provide core support to the Regions and oversight of business and professional functions to ensure provision of quality services as well as compliance with policy, procedure and law, and the Department's strategic goals.
The Quality Improvement Unit is responsible for development and implementation of a performance-based continuous quality improvement model for State-operated residential detention and treatment facilities. The DJS model is based on defined standards and incorporates self-assessment, review by multi-disciplinary subject matter expert teams, development of working plans for continuous improvement, and technical assistance. DJS disseminates Quality Review Reports to help inform our staff and external stakeholders of the status of performance in our juvenile facilities.
The Best Practices unit supports statewide expansion of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) in fiscal years 2009 through 2011. JDAI is a best practice model that eliminates inappropriate and unnecessary use of detention and protects public safety by minimizing failures for juveniles to appear in court.
The Best Practices Unit is also responsible for the statewide Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) initiative to reduce the confinement of minority youth. The unit will educate the DJS Regions about how to implement JDAI strategies through a racial lens and address DMC issues in the regions.
Also see Our Best Practice Resource Library
The Gender Responsive Services unit is responsible for providing gender specific programming across the six domains (physical, sexual, emotional, relational, intellectual and spiritual) to female youth under DJS care. In fiscal year 2007, a comprehensive evaluation of existing gender responsive services conducted by the Department yielded several recommendations for enhancing services to DJS female youth. As a result of this study, the Department plans a comprehensive continuation and expansion of Gender Responsive Services in fiscal years 2009 through 2011. The goals of the unit include the overall reduction in the number of female youth statewide in residential care; the continuation of the implementation of Trauma Informed Care; the creation of Gender Responsive services in every county, and the development of resources for evidence-based programs for females. In addition, the Department seeks to develop a plan to build a new home for its residential program for committed female youth. To reinforce the importance of the emphasis on Gender Responsive Services the department intends to create a dedicated, line item budget allocation to sustain these important programs.
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