Rhode Island Youth Assessment and Development Centers

The new 52-bed Youth Assessment Center, a detention facility for the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) is a 33,000 SF state-of-the-art center for boys awaiting court proceedings. The Facility operation is focused on comprehensive services for juveniles that fully engage the local community and its resources.

Our innovative organizational approach to the project’s complex site and diverse population provides the optimal physical and operational environment for housing troubled youth. The housing accommodations include boys intake, detention, and special needs. The facility configuration provides opportunities for sight and sound separation for the special needs population and secure and non-secure zones to accommodate the staff, juvenile, and public functional needs.

The facility contains educational and vocational space and provides a half-size gym and outdoor recreation. Each housing pod is designed with a direct supervision philosophy that incorporates a large, open and sunny day space and private outdoor recreation yard. The units also include conference, educational, and programmatic spaces and are designed to cue appropriate behavior within a normalized environment.

The Rhode Island Youth Assessment Center was designed with a detailed LEED silver project budget that will soon be presented to the legislature for funding approval.