District Of Columbia § 2-1515.04 - Duties.

Providing services for committed and detained youth and PINS that balance the need for rehabilitation and holding youth accountable for their actions in the context of public safety;

Facilitating and enhancing intra-District coordination of services and supports for youth in the juvenile justice system;

Establishing and adopting best practices standards for the provision of residential, restorative, and rehabilitative services to youth in the juvenile justice system consistent with the standards of the American Correctional Association or those of another nationally accepted accrediting body;

Employing a cadre of juvenile justice professionals who are highly skilled and experienced with the principles, goals, and the latest advancements of juvenile rehabilitation and treatment provision;

Establishing through contracts, provider agreements, human care agreements, grants, memoranda of agreement or understanding, or other binding agreements a system of secure and community-based facilities and rehabilitative services with governmental bodies, public and private agencies, institutions, and organizations, for youth that will provide intervention, individualized assessments, continuum of services, safety, and security;

Establishing a system that constantly reviews a youth’s individual strengths, needs, and rehabilitative progress and ensures placement within a continuum of least restrictive settings within secure facilities and the community;

Assessing the risks and needs of youth, and determining and providing the services needed for treatment for substance abuse and other services;

Developing and maintaining a system with other governmental and private agencies to identify, locate, and retrieve youth who are under the care, custody, or supervision of the Department, who have absconded from an assigned secure governmental facility, or community shelter home, group home, residential facility, or foster care placement;

Developing and maintaining state-of-the-art systems to monitor accountability and to enhance performance for all Department programs, services, and facilities;

Developing and maintaining an ongoing training program for employees that ensures continuous development of expertise in juvenile justice service delivery;

Taking a leadership role in the provision of training and technical assistance to non-governmental juvenile justice service providers that fosters the development of high-quality, comprehensive, cost-effective, and culturally competent delinquency prevention and juvenile rehabilitative services for the youth and their families;

Developing and maintaining a capital improvement, licensing, and regulating program that ensures governmental and private institutions maintain up-to-date residential facilities, group homes, and shelter facilities to serve the safety, the security, and the rehabilitative needs of youth in the juvenile justice system;

Enforcing all laws, rules, regulations, court orders, policies, and procedures necessary and appropriate to accomplish the duties of the Department; and

Conducting a behavioral health screening and assessment as required in .