By Denise Dunbar | ddunbar@alextimes.com
The City of Alexandria, City of Falls Church and Arlington County will host community meetings in November to obtain public input for a study examining the future of the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center. The facility, located in Alexandria, is operated by the three jurisdictions through a regional Juvenile Detention Commission.
Juvenile incarceration rates across the nation have declined during the last decade, including in the three jurisdictions that use the center. An independent criminal justice consulting firm, The Moss Group, is conducting the study.
The firm is evaluating what changes, if any, could be made to the center to make it more efficient while still meeting the needs of the juvenile population and communities at large, or whether the center should be closed because of underuse, as well as youth detained in another center in Northern Virginia.
The series of community meetings are part of the consulting firm’s comprehensive analysis, study of the operations and costs of the center and development of recommendations.
The three meetings will provide the public with the opportunity to hear more about the study and provide feedback. The three meetings will be held:
•Nov. 14, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., City Hall, Laurel Room, 300 Park Ave., Falls Church.
•Nov. 20, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Lee Center Exhibit Hall, 1108 Jefferson St., Alexandria.
• Nov. 21, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Central Library Auditorium, 1015 N. Quincy St., Arlington.
Those unable to attend the meetings may provide anonymous feedback through a short online survey, which will be open through Dec. 6. For more information, or to take the survey, see alexandriava.gov/JuvenileDetentionCenter.
