Mississippi Department of Human Services
The Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) is a state agency of Mississippi, headquartered in Jackson. The department operates the state's family services.
The Division of Youth Services (DYS) operates juvenile correctional facilities. One, Oakley Training School, is open, while Columbia Training School has been closed. The two training schools are 125 miles (201 km) apart from one another.
As of 2003 the majority of children committed to the training schools were non-violent offenders. Originally a judge could order child to attend a training school for minor offenses up to and including felony charges. On July 1, 2010, new legislation states that only a child who commits a felony or a child who commits three or more misdemeanors could be sentenced to go to a training school. Male juveniles who engage in serious or repeat behaviors and are certified as adults may be asked to go to the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility, a privately operated facility of the Mississippi Department of Corrections in Walnut Grove, Mississippi. David M. Halfbinger of The New York Times said in 2003 that the MDHS juvenile correctional facilities "look more like rural community colleges -- low-slung, cinder-block buildings scattered across sun-baked meadows, ringed by chain-link fencing -- than the prisons they effectively are."
The Oakley Youth Development Center, formerly the Oakley Training School (OTS), is located in Oakley in unincorporated Hinds County. Oakley has a capacity of 150 students. Oakley Training School, also known as the Mississippi Youth Correctional Complex (MYCC), is located on a 1,068-acre (432 ha) plot of land surrounded by agricultural fields; the State of Mississippi states that the complex is about a 30-minute commute from Jackson.
MDHS owns the Columbia Training School, located in unincorporated Marion County, near Columbia, in southern Mississippi. The state estimates that Columbia is a two and one half hour commute from the school to Gulfport. Columbia is located between Hattiesburg and McComb. The Columbia Training School is located on over 1,000 acres (400 ha) of land. The unfenced complex is surrounded by farmland. Grantier Architecture designed a 10,000 square feet (930 m2) addition and renovation of the school.
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