LYNCHBURG (WSLS 10) - , Authorities caught the last missing juvenile on Friday and returned him to the Lynchburg Regional Juvenile Detention Center.
Police said eight juvenile detainees from the program were attending a planned outing in Riverside Park under the supervision of a youth counselor on August 11 at 1:36 p.m.
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Three juveniles, one female, age 16, and two males, age 17, ran from the basketball court and into the woods.
The Youth Counselor, following established procedure, immediately notified the Lynchburg Regional Juvenile Detention Center as well as the Lynchburg Police Department (LPD).
A short time later, the female detainee was picked up by the LPD and returned to the Detention Center.
Representatives from DJJ Certification Unit visited the Detention Center, on August 12, to review the incident to determine if any standards or procedures had been violated. They concluded that no violations had occurred during this incident.
Although there were no violations, the Human Services Department will be taking the following actions immediately to minimize the potential for these types of incidents in the future:
- At least two staff members will accompany juveniles from the program during all planned community activities;
- When there is a mixed group, a female youth counselor will accompany all female juveniles;
- When appropriate, the department will reduce the number of juveniles who participate in community activities at one time;
- The department will continue dialogue with all individuals involved with the juveniles who participate in the Post-D Program; i.e., probation officers, counselors, parents, teachers, family services specialists, etc.