Session: State Capitol, Room 423 Juneau, AK 99801-1182 Phone: (907) 465-4940 Fax: (907) 465-3766 Interim: 716 W 4th Avenue, Suite 450 Anchorage, AK 99501-2133 Phone: (907) 269-0106 Fax: (907) 269-0109 145 Main Steet Loop Kenai, AK 99611 Phone: (907) 283-7996 Fax: (907) 283-3075

Sponsor Statement for SB 150
Appropriation: Kenai Youth Detention Center

An Act making appropriations for the design and construction of a youth detention facility in Kenai; and providing for an effective date.

Currently, there are no youth corrections facilities on the Kenai Peninsula. All of the juvenile offenders from the area are transported and detained at the McLaughlin Youth Center in Anchorage, which incurs a great deal of expense. Building the Kenai Peninsula Detention Facility will help alleviate the over crowding in McLaughlin as well as provide a more centralized service for the Kenai Peninsula.

In 1997 the Department of Health and Social Services identified the need for this facility as part of the Master Plan for Youth Facilities. By 1998 a Kenai Peninsula Youth Facility Committee was formed. A Site evaluation has been completed by ECI/Hyer, naming the site in Kenai as the most preferable. A 10 acre parcel on Marathon Road has been donated by the city of Kenai.

Senate Bill 150 would provide funding for the design and construction of the Kenai Peninsula Juvenile Detention Facility. Having this facility on the Kenai Peninsula will fill a void in the Juvenile Justice System by providing a centralized "headquarters" for various local interdisciplinary agencies. A local facility is critical to the rehabilitation and re-integration of the youth back into the community.

The 11,800 s.f. facility will be composed of nine single occupant detention cells and two observation cells. Also included in the architectural program are youth probation offices, space for youth education and community programs that will interface with the detention program. The facility includes fenced outdoor exercise areas, staff offices, and intake area and all support spaces required to operate a youth detention center.

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