The District of Columbia’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) is the District’s cabinet level juvenile justice agency. It administers detention, commitment and aftercare services for youth held under its care in its facilities or residing in the DC community. The agency is actively involved in several innovative programming models, partnering with locally and nationally recognized juvenile justice centers in the following types of programs; juvenile justice, continuum of care, alternative sentencing, supervised citation release and supportive living.

Mission
The mission of DYRS is to improve public safety and give court-involved youths the opportunity to become more productive citizens by building on the strengths of youths and their families in the least restrictive, most homelike environment consistent with public safety.

Vision
DYRS will provide the nation’s best continuum of care for court-involved youths and their families through a wide range of programs that emphasize individual strengths, personal accountability, skill development, family involvement, and community support.

Guiding Principles
We Believe:

• Youth prefer the joy of accomplishment to failure and each youth is unique and can learn, re-learn and unlearn.
• All youth should be connected to caring adults, services, supports, and opportunities that enable them to contribute to the community and successfully transition into adulthood.
• In honoring diversity.
• All youth, families, staff and community should be valued, respected and have opportunities for growth and change.
• Youth, families and staff at all levels must be at the table and involved in decision-making; from youth/family team meetings to agency policies.
• In a robust continuum of care that is flexible, strengths based, family focused and results in youth being safely served in the least restrictive environment consistent with public safety.
• In creating environments that are safe, structured, stable and supportive for youth and staff.
• Staff at all levels should be responsive, respectful and work collaboratively with internal and external customers.
• Decisions should be informed by valid and reliable data.
• Everyone’s job is to help youth develop to their fullest potential.