Dear Ward 5 neighbors,
Ward 5 Day is Sunday! I hope to see you on September 22 at Turkey Thicket from 12:00 – 5:00 p.m. to celebrate all the things that make Ward 5 great. There will be a little bit of everything for everyone: food, music, racecars for little ones, a youth entrepreneur fair, a basketball tournament, dancing for seniors, and much more. Don’t meet me there; beat me there!
It has been an eventful Ward 5 Week and return from recess for the Council. On Tuesday, my colleagues and I voted to dissolve the Committee on Recreation, Libraries, and Youth Affairs (RYLA) amidst federal charges against Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White, who chairs that committee. In its place, two new sub-committees have been created: the Sub-Committee on Recreation and Community Affairs, chaired by Ward 3 Councilmember Matt Frumin, and the Sub-Committee on Libraries and Youth Affairs, which I will chair. You can see my press release on these important changes here or by clicking the image below.
I will be spending the coming weeks meeting with directors and visiting facilities to immerse myself in the operations of the agencies under the purview of the Sub-Committee on Libraries and Youth Affairs. I recently spoke with ABC7 News about my priorities regarding the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS). My focus will be on improving staffing and operations, particularly within the case management team, which has recently experienced high turnover. I also aim to shine a light on the agency’s staggering 92% recidivism rate (statistic includes arrests on status offenses and arrests on new offenses), which I believe stems from the District simply locking youth up without addressing the root causes of their behavior.
Additionally, I will examine the slow processing times within DYRS. For instance, before the pandemic, there was a roughly 30-day period between referral and first service with the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH). Now, the average wait for first service is more than twice as long. This means many committed youths are waiting months to receive essential mental health support to address their trauma and health needs. Similarly, DYRS is taking significantly longer to determine placements for committed youth than it did pre-pandemic. This extended holding period contributes to overcrowding at our Youth Services Center (YSC) facility, and it remains unclear what quality of services young people in DYRS care are receiving.
