For Youth Reception Center is a 24-hour facility that receives, screens and refers youth who have been picked up by the police for low level offenses such as truancy or curfew violations. Before the reception center, officers took youths to Juvenile Detention Hall where they were held and then released with little or no intervention. This program is seen as a national model and community leaders throughout the United States have visited the center in the hopes of replicating this effective program. By providing immediate intervention, potential homeless youth are detoured from life on the streets. The Reception Center provides a way for youth who don t pose a threat, to avert involvement with the juvenile justice system.
Research shows that once youth enter into the justice system they are likely to go back.