DYRS director pushes back on timelines included in proposed agency's reform

WASHINGTON — The D.C. Council is advancing a proposed reform to the agency that oversees the the supervision, custody, and care of young people charged with crimes, but the department's director is pushing back on the proposed timelines included in the legislation.

Last week, the council voted to advance the bill and continue the discussion surrounding Attorney General Brian Schwalb's ROAD Act. Councilmembers Brooke Pinto and Christina Henderson voted "no."

The legislation introduced in May would require the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to provide committed youth with a treatment plan within 30 days. Under current D.C. law, the agency has 90 days to provide the plan. During a September hearing on the bill, DYRS Director Sam Abed said on average the process was taking his team 62 days. 

On Monday, members of the Council's Subcommittee on Libraries & Youth Affairs pushed Abed on how willing he was to meet the 30 day deadline. 

"This is the problem with the 30 days. The 30 days is a number I set up as a target for our team,' Abed testified. "I know for a fact that there will be tough to place youth that will exceed 30 days every time. So, it doesn't make sense to me to set that stone and say this is a must. You have to do it in 30 days." 

After repeated questions, Abed said that to meet the proposed 30-day goal, he would have to hire additional staff members. 

Ward 3 Councilmember Matt Frumin asked Abed what he considered an appropriate consequence for exceeding the 30-day deadline. Abed responded that he was against codifying a strict timeline for the agency due to the complexity of some of the cases his team had to handle. 

In May Mayor Muriel Bowser told WUSA9 she was against the proposed legislation. However, last week her administration sent over mark ups of the legislation to the council, which some members took as a willingness to work on changes at the agency. 

Schwalb has insisted that a prompt treatment plan for committed youth will help reduce recidivism among teens and kids. 

"The recidivism rate at DYRS facilities are alarmingly high," said Councilmember Zachary Parker who chairs the Subcommittee on Libraries & Youth Affairs. Citing 2022 data from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) "Nearly 50% of youth committed to DYRS, are subsequently convicted of committing an additional criminal offense either while DYRS's care or within a few years of release from commitment."

Abed has pushed back on these numbers and has taken issue with the use of recidivism as a way to measure the success of his agency. When asked what the current recidivism rate was for his agency based on his definition, Abed responded, "Well, that's one of the problems that we have. We don't have the ability into the data." 

Abed says the D.C. court system has denied his agency the access to the data to determine an accurate recidivism rate. 

Parker commended the progress that Abed has made in increasing the agency's staffing and reducing the number of violent incidents at their facilities. However, Parker told Abed, "This has been a struggling agency, and instead of us maintaining a high bar, we kind of lowered the bar in order for the agency to rebound." 

Under the ROAD Act the Office of the D.C. Auditor would have independent oversight over DYRS. 

Last week, Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who chairs the Committee on Public Safety and Justice, voiced concerns about handing the oversight power to the D.C. auditor and asked colleagues to avoid rushing the proposed bill. 

D.C. Auditor Kathleen Patterson has also testified that her team does not have the expertise on the issue and that they would be unable to look into individual cases as proposed in the ROAD Act. 

Chairman Phil Mendelson ultimately decided to set the legislation up for a vote telling his colleagues he was interested in furthering the conversation about who could have oversight over DYRS. 

In September, Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Lindsey Appiah said the bill being considered by the Council ignored that DYRS has ample oversight. 

On Friday, Subcommittee on Libraries & Youth Affairs will take up the issues at DYRS again, but this time they will hear from the public.