 - Juvenile justice agency to release performance report_files/printme_header.gif)
Associated Press
COLUMBIA--The Department of Juvenile Justice said Friday it will release a report card on its attempt to improve the way it handles the state's young offenders.
The department will release the report card Wednesday at the Statehouse, the agency said in a release.
"The report card is an unprecedented effort to offer citizens a simple, forthright, and honest appraisal of the performance both at DJJ and the larger juvenile justice system," spokeswoman Loretta Neal said. "It is meant to give the public an upfront look at how we operate."
For more than 10 years, the department was monitored by the federal government after a lawsuit claimed overcrowding, physical abuse and inadequate medical care at DJJ's three prisons.
The government began monitoring DJJ in 1995, but little progress was made until Gov. Mark Sanford appointed former Family Court Judge Bill Byars DJJ director.
Byars has instituted programs that attempt to make permanent changes in juveniles' lives so they do not return to a life of crime. Federal oversight of the agency has since been lifted.
Click here to return to story:
http://www.charleston.net/stories/111504/sta_13djj.shtml