The Lancaster County commissioners on Wednesday signed off on agreements with two consultants to conduct an independent review of policies and procedures at the Youth Intervention Center.
The review is to be a trauma informed and include a set of recommendations. It is to get under way promptly and should be complete within a few weeks, Solicitor Jackie Pfursich said.
The consultants are Anne Marie Ambrose and Nelson Walker, who are experts in child welfare and juvenile detention, respectively. Given the YIC’s function as both a detention center and youth shelter, it made sense to bring in both perspectives, Pfursich said.
Both contracts are for $250 per hour. Ambrose’s contract is not to exceed $6,000, or 24 hours; Walker’s contract is not to exceed $3,750, or 15 hours. Those durations are based on Ambrose’s and Walker’s own assessment, in consultation with the county, of the time they’ll need, Pfursich said.
The commissioners agreed in August to have the review conducted. The decision came in the wake of public outcry over the revelation that the YIC had been conducting routine strip searches of youths in the shelter program when they returned from trips outside the facility. The policy was discontinued in June.
Ambrose is a child welfare and juvenile justice advocate. She is a senior fellow at the Stoneleigh Foundation, a Philadelphia-based youth justice nonprofit; her resume includes six years as Commissioner of Philadelphia’s Department of Human Services.
Walker is the interim director of Juvenile Detention & Rehabilitation Services in Delaware County. He has a 27-year career in juvenile justice, including roles as deputy commissioner of Philadelphia’s Juvenile Justice Services.
