The Center for Improving Youth Justice (CIYJ) is very pleased to announce Bethel Youth Detention Facility in Bethel, AK has been selected as a finalist for the 2025 Barbara Allen-Hagen Award in the detention category.
The Performance-based Standards team at Bethel Detention launched an effort to address the concerns young people at the facility had for their own safety. Their data showed that fear for safety reported by young people was more than twice the field average. The team knew the importance of safety as the foundation for young people to grow and change. They set the goal of creating a safe culture.
Bethel Detention has an average daily population of 11 young people ages 12-19-years old who stay an average of 79 days. Young people come to the facility with cognitive delays and without social or coping skills.
The team at Bethel Detention focused its Facility Improvement Plan (FIP) on fostering a safer environment to reduce the fear for safety that young people were experiencing. They took a multi-pronged approach that combined proactive interventions, individualized support and continuous monitoring. The primary interventions taken by the team included setting up more personalized interactions such as group sessions, individual check-ins and counseling as well as implementing bullying prevention curricula.
As a result, the facility saw a significant drop in reported feelings of fear and is committed to continuing these efforts to foster a secure and supportive environment.
Congratulations to the team at Bethel Youth Detention Facility: Superintendent Louise Russell, Site Coordinator Steve Gentle, Agency Coordinator Melissa Glorioso and Director Matt Davidson. Keep up the great work!
The CIYJ Barbara Allen-Hagen Award, established in 2007, honors the legacy of Barbara Allen-Hagen, a dedicated advocate from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) who led the development of the Performance-based Standards project, now CIYJ’s signature program. This prestigious award recognizes facilities and programs that embody Barbara’s guiding principle: Treat all young people coming into facilities as one of our own. The awardees demonstrate the positive impact of adhering to research-based standards and the continuous improvement process championed by CIYJ.