At the turn of the 20th century, these concerns prompted the 1907 legislation authorizing the construction in 1909 of the Stonewall Jackson Manual Training and Industrial School, the first facility for juveniles. In 1919, the General Assembly passed the first N.C. Juvenile Court Act, with precedents that included committing juvenile offenders to a state or county training school, and preventing youth contact with older and more hardened criminals by placing them in separate facilities.

In the 59 years between 1909 and 1968, the state established and operated eight training schools, part of the Department of Correction, until the facilities were taken over by the Department of Health and Human Services in 1975. All state juvenile facilities were supervised and funded independently until 1943, when the General Assembly created the statewide Board of Correction and Training to administer a unified Training School system.

In 1969, North Carolina, with its 2,595 admissions, was noted as having the highest number of juveniles in training schools in the United States (this number included status offenders and delinquents). The 1975 General Assembly targeted the growing problems of delinquency with legislation prohibiting the training school commitment of status offenders. Community-based alternatives to training school were implemented in 1978 with a $1 million appropriation. The Division opened the first state-operated regional juvenile detention center in Cumberland County in 1978; prior to this time, all detention centers were county-operated. Juvenile detention homes began locally when the first facility opened in Durham County in 1945.

The revised Juvenile Code became effective in 1980, setting that the maximum term in training school could be no longer than an adult would serve for same offense, and establishing a uniform statewide treatment program. In 1984, all North Carolina children being held for a criminal offense were removed from adult jails and holding facilities.

Governor Hunt named the Commission on Juvenile Crime and Justice to review the juvenile code. The Commission’s recommendations became the Juvenile Justice Reform Act passed in 1998 by the N.C. General Assembly, which created more effective prevention for children; stronger efforts to get troubled youth back on track; tougher, more effective punishment; and a more effective juvenile justice system. In 1999, the Office of Juvenile Justice was created by combining the Division of Youth Services from Department of Health and Human Services and the Juvenile Services Division from the Administrative Office of the Courts. Additionally, to boost local community prevention efforts, Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils (JCPCs) were instituted in each county.

The reforms of the ‘90s set the framework for North Carolina's current system. A cabinet-level Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (DJJDP) – formed by elevating the Office of Juvenile Justice; consolidating juvenile crime prevention and intervention programs; and coordinating state and local services – was enacted during the 2000 General Assembly. DJJDP shifted its treatment methods from correctional to therapeutic, to better prepare juvenile offenders to re-enter their communities as productive members of society.

In 2003, the Office of the State Auditor issued a performance audit of DJJDP’s YDCs and juvenile detention centers. The audit revealed the need for new, replacement facilities, due to the outdated, unsafe conditions of current facilities, as well as the clarification with staff about the importance and the role of clinical treatment and rehabilitation in the system (following the switch from a correctional to a therapeutic model), including group treatment, family treatment and increased one-on-one therapy. Following the audit, DJJDP contracted with an architectural firm to develop a comprehensive facility plan that focused on replacing the current outdated facilities with 500 newly constructed beds in three facilities across the state. Also in 2003, the department initiated a comprehensive Therapeutic Environment Training for all staff at its youth development centers.

In early 2004, the State Advisory Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention supported DJJDP’s efforts to build a comprehensive strategy, based on strengthening families; supporting core social institutions; promoting delinquency prevention; intervening immediately and effectively when delinquent behavior occurs; and identifying and controlling the small group of serious, violent and chronic juvenile offenders. As part of this comprehensive strategy, DJJDP recommended building 13 smaller juvenile facilities, closer to the youth’s family, along with a new approach in treatment: changing from correction to therapeutic, from guard to counselor. The plan recommended to the governor and General Assembly proposed the following facilities, each to be built around a base facility design of four eight-bed housing units:

•    One 96-bed facility in Cabarrus County
•    One 64-bed facility in Buncombe County
•    Eleven 32-bed facilities in Catawba, Forsyth, Guilford, Chatham, Moore, Cumberland, Pitt, Lenoir, Nash, Onslow and Brunswick counties
•    One 105-bed facility already established at Dillon in Granville County
•    Two treatment and planning centers

Also in 2004, at the request of the department, a consulting firm was hired and submitted a youth development center Operational Program report, developed with input of focus groups held with staff, key stakeholders and the State Advisory Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The report recommended three replacement youth development centers: one 256-bed YDC with 32 housing units; one 160-bed YDC with 20 housing units; and one 96-bed YDC with 12 housing units. Security measures for each YDC would include perimeter and internal fencing; a cluster design for housing units; non-campus-like design to allow direct supervision; and strategically-placed video cameras.

The 2004 General Assembly provided $4.4 million to DJJDP to continue facility planning, as well as passed a COPs finance package to set aside $35 million to replace youth development centers. In November 2004 DJJDP presented a detailed plan to the Joint Legislative Corrections, Crime Control, and Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee that laid out a desire for smaller facilities located closer to the communities in which youth live. The Department recommended that Phase 1 of the plan (a 96-bed in Cabarrus County and four 32-bed facilities in Chatham, Edgecombe, Lenoir, and Guilford counties) be implemented and that the remaining 288 beds allocated among seven 32-bed facilities, as well as current beds at Dillon, be reexamined after further analysis of population trends and assessment processes. DJJDP planned to develop Phase 2 of the plan for presentation to the 2006 legislative session.

The Joint Legislative Corrections, Crime Control, and Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee, endorsed the change to smaller treatment-oriented facilities in January 2005. The 2005 General Assembly’s budget included a special provision authorizing Phase 1 of DJJDP’s plan for replacement facilities. By year’s end, site work had begun for the replacement facilities, and the department had developed and begun implementation of a new Model of Care – focused on skill development and behavior change – for juvenile offenders in youth development centers. Ground had been broken for four replacement facilities by year’s end 2006. During the 2007 legislative session, lawmakers provided $1.5 million to the department for Phase 2 planning money, to be used to plan for five additional 32-bed facilities.

The four replacement youth development centers opened in 2008.

1. Chatham YDC: 32 females; four different eight-bed housing units; construction cost = $6 million; operating cost = $3 million; blended education-treatment Model of Care programming
2. Lenoir Complex at Dobbs YDC: 32 youths; four different eight-bed housing units; construction cost = $6 million; operating cost = $3 million; blended education-treatment Model of Care programming
3. Edgecombe YDC: 32 youths; four different eight-bed housing units; construction cost = $6 million; operating cost = $4 million; blended education-treatment Model of Care programming
4. Cabarrus Complex at Stonewall Jackson YDC: 96 youths; construction cost = $15.5 million; operating budget = $11.3 million

In March 2011, budget cuts resulted in the closure of Swannanoa Valley YDC. A second YDC – Samarkand – was closed that year by the 2011 General Assembly, which encouraged DJJDP to increase the use of community-based alternatives to commitment to reduce the need for YDCs across the state. DJJDP was one of three agencies in January 2012 that merged to become the Department of Public Safety. DJJDP became the Division of Juvenile Justice.

In November 2012, to better utilize and manage tight resources, and in answer to declining detention numbers, Perquimans Juvenile Detention Center, located in Hertford, was closed.

As enacted during 2012 session of General Assembly, Edgecombe Youth Development Center – one of four new facilities opened in 2008 – was closed in January 2013. More closures came per order of the 2013 General Assembly: Buncombe Juvenile Detention and Richmond Juvenile Detention in July 2013, and the Lenoir Complex at Dobbs youth development center – another of the four new facilities opened in 2008 – in October 2013.

In September 2013, as part of its continuing consolidation efforts, the Department of Public Safety integrated the divisions of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice and established the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice. In May 2014, the Juvenile Justice Section of the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice was created, composed of Juvenile Court Services; Juvenile Facility Services; Treatment & Education; and Juvenile Community Programs, all reporting to a Deputy Commissioner for Juvenile Justice.

The Gaston Juvenile Detention Center moved to the renovated Kirk building on the Stonewall Jackson Youth Development Center campus in Concord in August 2015, adding six beds and receiving a new name: Cabarrus Juvenile Detention Center. In November 2015, the Insight Crisis and Assessment Center opened in the renovated Housing Unit D on the C.A. Dillon YDC Campus, providing crisis beds to Central and Eastern areas.

The renovated Edgecombe Youth Development Center was opened in Rocky Mount in April 2016, increasing capacity by 12 beds to 44. Concurrent with the opening of Edgecombe YDC was the closure of C.A. Dillon YDC in Butner, which opened in 1968. The Bridges Crisis and Assessment Center opened in the former Forsyth Juvenile Detention Center, providing crisis beds to the Piedmont area. 

In September 2016, the Western Area Multipurpose Juvenile Crisis and Assessment Center opened in Asheville, in the renovated former Buncombe Juvenile Detention Center. This nine-bed center, operated through a public-private partnership with the Methodist Home for Children, provides crisis intervention, assessment and service planning for adjudicated youth who require a temporary out-of-home placement to stabilize their behaviors. The Asheville Center, unlike the other crisis centers, has the capacity to offer secure custody to children in the western area. 

The renovated Lenoir Complex at Dobbs Youth Development Center was reopened in Kinston in May 2017 as the Lenoir Youth Development Center, increasing capacity by 12 beds to 44. Concurrent with the opening of Lenoir YDC was the closure of Dobbs YDC in Kinston, which opened in 1947.

In June 2016, the N.C. General Assembly raised the age of juvenile jurisdiction for nonviolent crimes to age 18, following years of research, study and education on the topic. Effective Dec. 1, 2019, 16 and 17-year-old individuals who commit crimes in North Carolina will no longer automatically be charged in the adult criminal justice system.

In 2018 North Carolina’s juvenile crime rate fell to its lowest point since the state began recording juvenile crime data – 16.18 complaints per every 1,000 kids. From 2010-2018, the juvenile crime rate saw a 41% decrease; detention center admissions fell by 62%; and youth development center admissions dropped by 46%.

Effective Dec. 1, 2019, Raise the Age, or the Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act, placed 16- and 17-year-olds who commit crimes in North Carolina under juvenile jurisdiction, removing them from the adult criminal justice system. The Raise the Age initiative became law through a strong, bipartisan coalition of support from all three branches of government, law enforcement and advocacy organizations.
 

In late winter/early spring 2020, the coronavirus pandemic and its associated restrictions and safety concerns brought global and local impacts to Juvenile Justice, North Carolina’s judicial system and community program providers. Juvenile Justice established on March 12 a broad multi-disciplinary team that instituted changes to operations and procedures within juvenile facilities and offices beginning in mid-March. These operational adjustments included efforts to keep or bring facility populations as low as possible, but also to protect those juveniles who must be held in secure custody. Changes included such items as suspending visitation and volunteer activities at all juvenile justice facilities, until conditions are deemed safe, and handling necessary court hearings via videoconference, to reduce potential exposure opportunities for juveniles and staff members to COVID-19. 

The Division also increased efforts to use alternatives to detention (such as electronic monitoring, home confinement, community-based programs, etc.) when appropriate for juveniles with nonviolent complaints who are awaiting adjudication within juvenile court. We reviewed juvenile cases for those who might be appropriate for release and brought them to the attention of the detaining judges for approval of release to community-based services.

2021 brought historic change to North Carolina’s juvenile justice system with the ratification of Session Law 2021-123 (Senate Bill 207), which brought an increase in the minimum age of jurisdiction from age 6 to age 10 for all undisciplined offenses (e.g., truancy, runaways and other status offenses) and most delinquent offenses. An 8- or 9-year-old who either has a prior court judgment (adjudication) of delinquency or who commits a felony A through G offense would remain under juvenile jurisdiction. This law also created a juvenile consultation mechanism for youth ages 6 through 9 who are not subject to juvenile jurisdiction and have committed a crime or infraction, whereby court counselors are empowered to provide case management, service referrals, screenings, assessments, community resources and programming to the young child and the parent without exposing that young child to court processes they do not understand. These youth are defined as “vulnerable juveniles.”