Mission
The mission of the Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Home (JDH) is to "...create and maintain a safe, secure, stable, and enriching environment for juveniles in our care, while protecting the community." The facility is staffed 24 hours per day, 7 days weekly to provide a safe and secure setting to detain youth ages 12 – 17.
Programs offered to youth at JDH include:
Chaplain Services
A chaplain from the community is regularly offers youth the opportunity to speak with him one of the three or four times he is here weekly. He also oversees and coordinates religious services in custody, being sensitive to meet the various needs of the youth coming from a variety of religious backgrounds.
Corrections Health
We are a Division of the Health Department. Since the majority of detained youth return to the community, we have an important role on the overall continuum of community health services. Our primary duties involve assessment and treatment of acute medical and psychiatric conditions in youth in custody at Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Home (JDH). Medical services include communicable disease screening, triage, treatment, prenatal care, emergency response, and health education. Mental health services include suicide prevention, crisis intervention, identification and treatment of mentally ill juveniles, and assisting various Juvenile Justice programs with continuity of care issues and release planning.
Youth may see the on duty nurse during any of their three daily rounds to the units.
Maryanna Gordon, Nurse Manager Senior
503.988.5897
Justice Center
119/4/MED
Daily Groups
All custody units provide facilitated cognitive restructuring groups at least four times weekly. Youth are assisted in developing skills such as problem solving, empathy, expressing anger appropriately, and identification of their own thinking errors. Research shows that individuals who are able to demonstrate these skills usually are better able to respond appropriately to problems and frustrations in their lives, and are more likely to be successful once they return to the community.
Multi-cultural services are provided to assist, whenever necessary.
Library Services
Multnomah County Library, in partnership with Juvenile Services Division, provides librarian services and offers extensive book selections to youth for pleasurable reading and to enhance reading skills. Multi-cultural materials are provided.
Recreation
Recreational activities are designed to ensure that all the youth in detention exercise properly by providing big muscle activities to enhance their overall mental and physical well being. Each youth participates in recreation daily. There are three outdoor recreation areas, one of which is covered so that the youth may go outdoors even if the weather is rainy. The recreation schedule rotates daily to provide a variety of activities each day. During "free time", youth may use phones to make collect calls, write letters, read, and play games or basketball on the unit.