State Youth Facility to Take Community-Based Approach

KINSTON, N.C. — A new state facility designed to replace Dobbs Youth Development Center for youths ages 10 to 18 will be more secure than the existing facility, according to officials.

The new 32-bed facility is part of the first phase of construction to replace Dobbs YDC with 13 smaller facilities. Unlike the current facility, the new center will have a fence and $1.2 million will be spend on a camera system.

The facility is part of the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency’s push to implement a more community-orientated approach at its youth correctional facilities. The new center will have one staff member for every ward. The current staff to ward ratio is 11 to 1.

Before the project can move forward a 59.9-acre site located near the current facility must be rezoned from a residential district to an industrial conditional use permit and the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention must obtain a conditional use permit.

The facility in use now, built in 1944 with an additional dorm added in 1993, may not close entirely and officials may opt to use it to accommodate other needs.