MEMPHIS, Tenn — Wednesday marked the long-awaited unveiling of the new Shelby County Youth Justice and Education Center, featuring more beds, more classrooms and is twice the size of the previous one.
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner and other public officials gathered at the event stressed this new facility is about rehabilitation not incarceration.
The nearly 86,000 square-foot facility has 146 beds, nine classrooms and offers counseling services.
Delvin Lane of youth intervention group B.L.O.C Squad Memphis, believes the new facility can help teenagers come out of detention less likely to reoffend.
“It keeps them alive, they’re not getting shot at, they’re not shooting up houses, they’re not stealing cars. They got a chance to talk to people about trauma today been going through…where they can get employment, get an education.”
But Lane says that oversight of those in charge will be needed in order to truly view that success.
“Somebody overseeing them, holding them accountable, listening to what the kids are saying,” he says. “Have counselors on the regular talk to our young people.”
Cardell Orrin with the Memphis and Shelby County Justice and Safety Alliance, is hopeful the education and job programs can offer real change. But he has concerns about the building's size.
“Yes, there are more beds,” he says. “We hope that there's not a race to feel like we have to fill those beds up.”
Orrin also has questions about the resources poured into the center.
“We went on a tour with one of our young people who has been involved in the justice system and one of the responses she had was, ‘Well, this is nice. There's a lot of great things in here. But why can't we have these things on the outside before we get detained?’” he said.
According to the Memphis Shelby County Crime Commission, 186 juveniles have been charged with serious crimes so far in 2023. There were 203 such cases total during 2022.