DAVENPORT, Iowa — After years of planning, Scott County unveiled its new Youth Justice and Rehabilitation Center.
With a new focus on rehabilitating kids who commit crimes comes the need for a new type of facility. In Scott County, that means opening a building in north Davenport.
"We believe we're not just here to detain youth, because detainment is only a temporary solution," YJRC director Jeremy Kaiser said.
Officials held a ribbon cutting on Monday, Dec. 17 offering tours of the facility. Katelyn Leeper, director of Scott County Kids, was invited to join. Scott County Kids is a nonprofit that gets resources and funding to those who need it.
"This facility is a lot bigger, it's very colorful, it's spacious, it's welcoming," Leeper said. "I think it's gonna be really great for the youth."
She said spaces like the recreation room, family visitation rooms and classrooms will help put kids on the right track.
"They really want to rehabilitate these kids, and I think this center is gonna help them do that," Leeper said.
Kaiser said that was what drove the design process.
"In a space that's more relaxing and calming, youth don't feel so institutionalized, and they can just relax and learn new ideas of thought," Kaiser said.
He said this kind of design is much better suited than the current facility downtown. That opened in 1980 and was repurposed from a car dealership.
"It was not a lot of natural skylight in there, not a lot of windows, very gray looking, it was small," Kaiser said.
It also didn't have the capacity the county needed with only 18 beds. Kaiser said there's currently an average of 20 to 25 kids needing space. That meant youth offenders had to be sent around the state, even to Illinois or Wisconsin, to find enough beds. The new center has 40 available beds.
"Ultimately this was about keeping Scott County kids in Scott County and serving our community the best we can," Kaiser said.
After a few finishing touches, the building will be ready to open by February.
"I think I’m just most excited to get the staff and get the youth here, and just work and live and teach youth in a space that is much more inviting to be in, and just opening their minds and trying to help every youth that we can get through to," Kaiser said.
The new facility will also separate first-time offenders from older kids. Kaiser said this keeps younger kids from being influenced negatively and gives them a better chance of staying out of the facility in the future.