DJJC Wellness | Johnson County, Ind

The Dickinson Juvenile Justice Center

Johnson County Juvenile Detention

Kristi Bruther, Director

Heather McQueen, Assistant Director

Promoting Resident Wellness

The Dickinson Juvenile Justice Center / Juvenile Detention encourages residents by supporting wellness, good nutrition, and regular physical activity as part of the total learning environment. By facilitating learning through the support and promotion of good nutrition and physical activity, Juvenile Detention supports the basic health foundation of our residents. Improved health fosters regular attendance and consistent education. A copy of the wellness policy and assessment of that policy will be provided to the public upon request.

Juvenile Detention provides a comprehensive learning environment for the development and practice of lifelong wellness behaviors for residents and staff. The entire facility, not just the classroom, shall be aligned with healthy goals to positively influence understanding, beliefs and habits as they relate to good nutrition and regular physical activity. While Juvenile Detention is encouraging residents to lead healthier lives, the Johnson County Government provides employees with incentives to have healthier lifestyles creating a common goal throughout the building.

Juvenile Detention supports and promotes proper dietary habits that contribute to each resident’s health status and academic performance. Foods available within Juvenile Detention Juvenile Detention shall meet or exceed U.S. Dietary guidelines. Foods shall be served with consideration given to nutritional integrity, variety, appeal, taste, safety and packaging to ensure high-quality meals. Weekly menus will be approved by a registered dietician and updated as needed.

Juvenile Detention will create, strengthen, or work within existing Juvenile Detention health policies to develop, implement, monitor, review, and, as necessary, revise existing school nutrition and physical activity policies. The Juvenile Justice Advisory Board also serves as the Juvenile Detention Wellness Policy Committee which is comprised of the Juvenile Detention Director and Assistant Director, Juvenile Magistrate, Sheriff, probation officers, health care professionals, Prosecutor, Public Defender, Department of Child Services Director, Juvenile Community Corrections Director, local school personnel, mental health professionals, youth social service organizations, Systems of Care Coordinator, and food service professionals. This committee is responsible for the development and/or evaluation of Juvenile Detention’s wellness policy.

Nutrition Guidelines

Meals served through the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs will:

Meet the USDA Nutritional Standards and the American Dietary Guidelines.
Promote fruits, vegetables, whole-grain products, and low-fat and fat-free dairy products, healthy food preparation methods and health-enhancing nutrition practices.
Be served with consideration toward variety, appeal, taste and safety to ensure high quality meals.
Use food commodities made available under the Federal Food Commodity Program for school meals.
Meet federal, state and local guidelines for safety and sanitation.
Emphasize caloric balance between food intake and physical activity;
Ensure that carbonated beverages will not be sold to residents anywhere in Juvenile Detention during the school day.
Encourage each child to start each day with a healthy breakfast.
Serve meals in a pleasant environment with adequate space.

In order to empower and educate the residents, as well as encourage proper nutrition practices, Juvenile Detention will complete the following:

Provide residents with at least 15 minutes to eat after sitting down for breakfast and lunch;
Schedule meal periods at appropriate times, e.g., lunch will be scheduled between 11:00 and 1:00p.m.;
Ensure annual training for kitchen staff meets or exceeds USDA Professional Standards so that our staff members can pass on their knowledge to residents as needed;
Provide water at every meal and snack;
Tutoring, programs, or organizational meetings or activities will not be scheduled during mealtimes, unless residents have the ability to eat during such activities;
Provide residents access to sanitizing or hand washing before they eat meals or snacks;
Provide residents access to physical activity, walking around the gym, or the regulation room when a behavior plan is in place to assist residents in getting through the school day successfully.
Take reasonable steps to accommodate the tooth-brushing regimens of residents with special oral health needs (e.g., orthodontia or high risk of tooth decay).

Snacks served will contribute positively to residents’ diets and health, with major emphasis on serving fruits and vegetables as the primary snacks and milk as the primary beverage. All foods made available at Juvenile Detention adhere to the following food safety and security guidelines:

All foods made available at Juvenile Detention comply with state and local food safety and sanitation regulations. Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plans and guidelines are implemented to prevent food- borne illness.
For the safety and security of the food, staff access to the food service operations is limited to authorized personnel.

Nutrition Promotion Goals:

Juvenile Detention aims to teach, encourage, and support healthy eating through nutrition promotion to residents by:

Promoting fruits, vegetables, whole grain products, protein, and low-fat and fat-free dairy products through “Choose My Plate” materials posted in the cafeteria.
Promoting the sanitation of hands before every meal. Staff members remind residents of the importance of clean hands by taking residents to the handwashing station before every meal.

Nutrition Promotion Goals:

Juvenile Detention aims to teach, encourage, and support healthy eating through nutrition education to residents by:

Posting evidenced based SPARK Recreation fitness cards identifying: good fats, calories burned, serving sizes, tracking calories, high sodium foods, and the importance of 60 minutes per day of exercise.
Provide a flyer containing information regarding healthy living and wellness to all residents within the first twenty-four (24) hours of their stay in Juvenile Detention. Additional/comprehensive information is available as requested by residents.

Physical Activity Goals:

Juvenile Detention meets The Department of Corrections guidelines requiring residents within a secure detention facility receive the nationally recommended amount of daily physical activity (e.g., at least 60 minutes per day). Juvenile Detention aims to teach, encourage, and support healthy physical activity for residents by:

Following an evidenced based program, SPARK Recreation, introducing new skills each week and promoting life-long physical activity.
Providing adequate equipment to ensure all residents, including those with disabilities or who are not athletically gifted, can participate in physical education.

Other School Based Activities that Promote Student Wellness

In addition to providing regular physical activities for the residents, Juvenile Detention will offer the following:

Special programming focusing on healthy relationships and interpersonal skills weekly.
After school snack along with a best practices/daily living skills programming.
Providing water between meals for regulation  Student activity logs so residents can track their physical activity daily.
Opportunity for residents to short physical activity breaks between lessons or classes, as appropriate.
Physical activity will not be withheld as a punishment or used as a punishment. However, if residents exceed expectations, extra time in the gym may be provided as a reward for positive behaviors.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The Juvenile Detention Wellness Policy Committee, under the direction of the Juvenile Detention Director, will ensure compliance with established Juvenile Detention nutrition and physical activity wellness policies. Juvenile Detention food service staff will ensure daily compliance with nutrition policies within food service areas and will report regularly to the Juvenile Detention Assistant Director.

The Juvenile Detention Wellness Policy Committee will review the wellness policy, assess progress, and determine areas in need of improvement at a minimum of every three (3) years. Revisions and improvements will then be made as necessary in order to promote an environment that supports healthy eating and physical activity.