Detention

The Summit County Juvenile Detention Center is a secure, short-term holding facility for youth who are alleged or adjudicated to be delinquent, pending court action, or awaiting placement. The facility is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and has a total capacity to serve up to 100 youth at any time.

Education is an important facet of the Detention Center operations. Certified Akron Public School teachers offer courses in history, language arts, math, reading, and science. Credit recovery from the courses studied while in the Detention Center can now be applied to their educational record and assist in recovering the credits necessary to graduate from high school. Additional tutorial services are provided by Akron Public Schools through the Title 1 Program.

In addition to educational services, the Detention Center partners with various community agencies to provide programming that includes writing and poetry workshops, yoga, art, music, Spanish, library, and religious services. The Detention Center also has a garden where a variety of fruits, vegetables and flowers are grown and tended to by the youth. The fruit and vegetables are placed in the salad bar that the youth can sample at every dinner meal. The Detention Center has also established a Rewards Wing, where youth behaving at acceptable levels will be allowed to visit the wing to engage in recreational activities with donated equipment.

The Detention Center maintains the high standards set forth by the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) and the American Correctional Association (ACA), which certified the Detention Center in 2015. ACA recertification takes place every three years and ensures that the Detention Center adheres to best practices required by the ACA.