The Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services hosted the Public Welfare Foundation Board of Directors for a visit to New Beginnings, the District’s secure residential treatment facility for young males. The tour, led by DYRS director Neil Stanley and several youth at New Beginnings, was highlighted by young males who spoke of their future goals and involvement in the DC Model program – which provides supervision, rehabilitation and planning for the youth’s return to his community.

 

“The tour was illuminating for our board members, who were able to learn more about the high-quality educational and rehabilitative services that youth receive at New Beginnings,” said Mary E. McClymont, president of the Public Welfare Foundation. “The board members were particularly impressed by the youth they met, who helped conduct the tour and shared their experiences at New Beginnings.  In addition to learning more about what happens within the facility, the board was excited to hear more about DC Youth Link, which the Foundation helped support and which allows many youth under DYRS custody to receive needed services in the community.”

 

The tour included stops at the Maya Angelou Academy – the on campus school at New Beginnings – and the residential quarters.

 

“The Public Welfare Foundation is a friend of the District and DYRS,” Stanley said. “Their support not only helps our youth realize their dreams, but also helps our programs to thrive and adjust to the changing needs of our youth and the communities in which they live.”

 

The District of Columbia’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services 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.