GREAT FALLS — The Cascade County Juvenile Detention Center has announced a project to add a 4,800 square foot expansion building, with an indoor gymnasium, overflow housing, and a multipurpose room, making them the largest juvenile detention center in the state.
While there is a small basketball court outside, with limited indoor space for colder weather, a hallway often serves as the area for physical activities.
Cascade County Juvenile Detention Center administrator Shanna Bulik-Chism says, “We're super excited to have the kids be able to participate in activities pretty much any time of the day and not have to have as much time in their cells as they do now just because we don't have the space available to get everybody out.”
With construction beginning this spring, the new building will feature an indoor gymnasium, slightly smaller than an elementary size gymnasium, which will allow for much more group physical activity, as well as space for other events like their HiSet graduation ceremonies.
The $2.6 to $3 million dollar project is an investment in the overall health of the detained youth from across the state. The center houses both male and female youths from the ages of 10 to 18, with an average length of stay of 26 days.
Bulik-Chism says, “The juvenile detention center has been able to bank our reserves quite well, so we'll be able to pay for a very significant portion of this building without having to take out a capital loan. This is for their health, it's for their safety. If kids can't get out, burn energy, you know, be actively involved in doing something, they think of ways in which to get in trouble.”
A multipurpose room will also be included for activities that currently have to share the classroom space when class is not in session. These include mental health education, craft activities, and AA and NA meetings.
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Recreation Coordinator Justin Boka explains, “The multipurpose room, that is going to be huge, that's going to be awesome. It's going to open up a variety of different activities that we can do inside as well as additional room for our mental health liaison and myself to do different group projects. As well as just having the court when it's zero degrees outside and snowy, they could still go out and burn some energy and play some basketball and enjoy themselves a little bit.”
The building will also include four bed overcapacity housing, The detention center is currently approved for 24 beds, 30 with overcapacity. The new beds will bring that total to 34, the largest in the state. With 18 youths currently housed, as many are released around the holidays, the detention center often sees numbers in the 27-30 range.
Bulik-Chism says, “We do serve the entire state of Montana, although it is the Cascade County Juvenile Detention Center. We actually have contracts with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of Corrections, and also serve pretty much anybody in the state of Montana. So we have had a pretty high population over the last couple of years. And so the addition of these four extra beds will be a big relief to us.”
The detention center will also be adding an emergency turn around in the parking lot for more efficient access for emergency vehicles. Currently, large emergency vehicles have to reverse out of the fenced parking lot. There will also be a fenced fire evacuation exit off of the new gymnasium.
The Cascade County Juvenile Detention Center is expecting to break ground on the project this spring.
