Will the treatment centers affect public safety in the neighborhoods?

The IHS respects the concerns that the treatment center may represent a risk to public safety. The YRTCs’ staff will screen out youth who are likely to be dangerous and will not admit youth who have been charged with or convicted of violent crimes. The programs will have around-the-clock nursing supervision and electronic surveillance of the buildings and grounds, and the youth are not allowed to leave the facilities unescorted. Youth at YRTCs must adhere to a strict, time-consuming schedule that includes lights-out at 10 p.m. during the week, and 11 p.m. on weekends. Youth at other YRTCs have chosen to leave on their own to return home, and this will likely happen at this site. However, they are not violent criminals and when they leave the YRTC, they do so to go home. Almost 20 years of experience tells us that this rarely happens and when it does, youth quickly leave the community.