Jackson Free Press

Rep. Deborah Dixon, D-Raymond, was named a "Most Distinguished Legislator for Juvenile Justice Causes" on Thursday at the 40th Justice for all Youth symposium in Biloxi.

Organizers recognized Dixon for her work on a new law that codified minimal standards on the state's juvenile-detention centers. As chairman of the House Youth and Family Affairs Committee in the past legislative session, she introduced a version of the "Mississippi Juvenile Detention Facilities Licensing Act."

Dixon told a group of juvenile-justice workers from around the state Thursday that she would continue to work for the kids of the state.

"I am fighting (for the youth), and anything I can do to try to help you in the state of Mississippi as the chairman of Youth and Family Affairs—feel free to call me at anytime," she told the group.

Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, who authored the Juvenile Detention Center Licensing Act that became law, and Rep. John Hines, D-Greenville, who offered an amendment to define "juvenile detention center" in the bill, were recognized at the symposium as well.

The licensing act is the product of the Juvenile Detention and Alternatives Task Force, formed in 2012, which recommended to the Legislature necessary changes in state law to make juvenile-detention centers comply with more uniform standards.

In the past decade, many of the state's juvenile-detention facilities were sued for their conditions or alleged deficiencies—by 2012, two juvenile facilities had closed, and several were, and still are, under consent decrees.

"A need for statewide standards has become apparent for two reasons: to ensure that our children are being detained in safe and appropriate facilities, and to assist our counties by furnishing clear detention standards in keeping with national criteria, which will provide those facilities with some protections in the event of legal actions," the 2012 task force report says.

Four years later, those recommendations are reality. In October, the Juvenile Facilities Monitoring Unit in the Department of Public Safety will begin mock reviews of the state's juvenile-detention facilities to see if any issues exist that need to be addressed.

The Forrest County Juvenile Detention Center was one of several centers to come under scrutiny in the past decade, and had to comply with a consent decree, but things turned around under Director LaKeisha Bryant-Hall. She was awarded the Dr. Larry Leflore Juvenile Justice Advocacy Award Thursday for her work the past few years in Forrest County, where no kids were in juvy over the Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays in 2015. Bryant-Hall accepted the award with members of her staff, saying they had her back all the whole way.

"There were several times when we felt like throwing in the towel, but these individuals had my back," she said standing with her colleagues Thursday in Biloxi. "We actually worked together and were able to get the job done. ... We're here for the children."

Read more stories about juvenile justice and preventing violence at http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/preventingviolence. Email Arielle Dreher at [email protected].