Department of Youth Services Renews Contract with CHD

SPRINGFIELD — The Center for Human Development (CHD) announced that the state Department of Youth Services (DYS) has renewed its contract with CHD for its Assessment Program for adolescent males, ages 13 to 17, who are newly committed to DYS care.

CHD is the largest provider of DYS services in the western region of the Commonwealth, and this renewed contract for assessment services is one of several provider contracts CHD has with the state. CHD was first awarded a contract for the Assessment Program in 1997 under a competitive bid process. The contract has been renewed periodically since then, based on a DYS examination of CHD’s performance, quality assessments, and cost. The new contract is for five years.

The primary focus of the Assessment Program is comprehensive individual assessments within 30 days of commitment in order to provide DYS staff with a service plan designed to help the youth to be successful in avoiding reoffending behavior. CHD provides the initial assessment for each youth in DYS care and makes specific recommendations to DYS staff regarding ongoing services for the youth.

“As a long-time provider for the Commonwealth, we genuinely appreciate the partnership that has developed between DYS and CHD,” said John Roberson, vice president of Children and Family Services for CHD. “We value their trust in our ability to work with youth and families to produce comprehensive assessments. Each assessment is broken into different aspects. Primarily, it’s a clinical assessment that examines various aspects of the youth’s life, family, and criminal history, as well as an assessment of the risk to reoffend. There is also an academic component and a vocational component focusing on the youth’s unique interests and aptitude. In integrating all of these aspects into an individual assessment, we leverage CHD’s clinical, social, and youth expertise in our role as an active partner in the continuum of care within DYS.”