NOTE:  This facility closed on April 12, 2018. 

For information on Juvenile Probation or Detention, please call:  860-721-2100 (or visit Court Support Services Division of the Judicial Branch)

The following is a joint statement from DCF Commissioner Joette Katz and Superintendent William Rosenbeck about the closing of the CJTS facility:

As this fiscal year comes to a close, so does the juvenile justice work under the Department of Children and Families.  Recent legislation transfers this work to the Judicial Branch; the Connecticut Juvenile Training School is closing; and youth on parole will be served by CSSD, effective July 1, 2018.  Many of you have dedicated your careers to working with this population. We thank you for your commitment and dedication to our young men and women.

In recent years, the youth at CJTS were there for very serious behaviors.  They were the handful of youth who, out of the 10,000 touched by the Judicial Branch, were sent to CJTS for a more intense course of treatment. The percent of CJTS population adjudicated as a serious juvenile offender (SJO) had risen dramatically over the past few years as the youth with less serious behaviors were successfully diverted. The youth were often victims of early trauma and had behavioral health needs that required attention, and we provided extensive services to the youth while at CJTS and following their discharge into the community.

Remarkable work was done with so many successes, but there were always stark reminders of the challenges, of the despair that some of these young adults face. The Department was expected to work miracles after other systems had failed.  And despite so many odds, we did. Youth graduated high school, recovered credits, learned vocations, developed coping skills, rekindled family ties, and received much needed behavioral health supports. We celebrated every success and deeply grieved every loss. One moment we could be eating birthday cake with a youth, and the next we could be mourning the death of a youth who had returned to his community, only to be murdered.  It’s a cycle that unfortunately repeated itself and never got easier.
 
But, as with so much of the human service work, only the worst case scenarios are brought forward to the public. The same can be said about CJTS. For some, CJTS served as a physical symbol for what is believed to be wrong with the juvenile justice system. DCF was faced with this image, this dark cloud that appeared over CJTS since the day it opened. Unfortunately, many could not get beyond this CJTS image to allow themselves an opportunity to see its strengths and effectiveness with the young men we served.
 
Someday perhaps we’ll have a juvenile justice system that does not require secure care. We are not there yet. The new juvenile justice system is being built to include both privatized and state operated secure care. True juvenile justice advocacy should continue- it should not be altered or lessened now that DCF is no longer involved.
 
It was an honor to be a partner with the Judicial Branch and the Department of Corrections in this work. We hope for the best for the future of juvenile justice and will assist in any way we can. These are Connecticut’s youth, and we all want to see them succeed.

 

ARCHIVED FILES:
CJTS Advisory Board
     Agendas
     Bylaws
     Minutes
Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA)
Rate of Sexual Abuse - 2015
Restorative Justice:
     Philosophy

ARCHIVED REPORTS:
CJTS + JJ Reports and Data
     2018 CJTS Annual
     2017 CJTS Annual
     2016 CJTS Annual
     2015 CJTS Annual
             2015 CJTS Appendix
     2014 CJTS Annual
             2014 Appendix 1
             2014 Appendix 2
             2014 Appendix 3
     2010 CJTS Annual
     2009 CJTS Annual
CJTS Clinical Department Quarterly Reviews:
     10/1/15 - 12/31/15
     7/1/15 - 9/30/15