D.C.'S New Juvenile Detention Facility Needs Careful Monitoring

SO NOTORIOUS was the District's Oak Hill facility that juvenile offenders committed there called it "Little Lorton." Its closing -- and the simultaneous opening of the New Beginnings Youth Development Center -- is a moment to be celebrated. At the same time, a youth's escape in the center's first hours is a reminder of the difficulty of working with young lawbreakers -- and of the need for officials to be as vigilant in protecting public safety as in promoting rehabilitation.

The $46 million New Beginnings opened Friday in Laurel with city officials trumpeting its emphasis on redirecting, not just warehousing, committed youth. "This is the anti-prison," Vincent N. Schiraldi, director of the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, pronounced as he bragged about the youth-friendly features and home-like environment that will serve 60 youths. Unlike the old Oak Hill facility in Laurel, which essentially was a preparatory school for adult prison, New Beginnings seeks to train youth for new and more productive lives.

Mr. Schiraldi's words took on an unintended irony when a youth easily scaled a fence to escape from the facility Saturday night. The boy was apprehended yesterday without incident, and security experts tell us that such breakdowns are not unusual in the shakedown of opening a new facility. The incident, though, underlines concerns that Mr. Schiraldi's zeal for giving his young charges new chances may blind him to the need for the kind of measures necessary to ensure public safety. Planting thorny rose bushes may not suffice to hinder breakouts. It's reassuring that Mr. Schiraldi has called in security experts and ordered installation of the razor wire he first scorned. Also noteworthy are department figures showing that just 7 percent of the youth in its care were unaccounted for last week, compared with 26 percent in 2003.

The department also estimates that reconviction rates of youth leaving Oak Hill were cut in half from 2005 to 2007. Officials shouldn't let such progress be jeopardized by misjudgments and missteps that would undermine public confidence. Careful study went into the development of New Beginnings, but it's critical that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and the D.C. Council monitor its operations carefully.