DYRS Director Ousted
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Anonymous
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Anyone know what happened? She seemed popular.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/02/13/bowser-ousts-dyrs-director-hilary-cairns/ Bowser ousts director of youth rehabilitation services The move upset some juvenile justice advocates, who said they had been impressed with Hilary Cairns’s work D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) quietly ousted the director of the city’s youth rehabilitation services agency earlier this month, asking the longtime juvenile justice advocate to step down from her post at a time when violence among children and teenagers is a chief concern in the city. Hilary Cairns said in an interview with The Washington Post Monday that she does not know why the Bowser administration asked her to resign. The move upset some juvenile justice advocates, who said they had been impressed with Cairns’s work. “The bottom line is, my resignation was requested and I complied,” Cairns said. “I have no insight into what the reason is.” Bowser confirmed the departure at a news conference Monday morning but declined to elaborate. “I think we need some new leadership at the agency, and I won’t say more about that,” she said. In a statement, the mayor’s office thanked Cairns, whose resignation was effective Friday, and encouraged people to apply to replace her. Clarence “Trey” Stanback, who most recently served as the chief operating officer at the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS), will now serve as interim director, according to a Bowser spokeswoman. In a Monday afternoon oversight hearing for the agency, which is tasked with supervision and custody of young people charged with crimes, some advocates and experts raised concerns about Cairns’s dismissal. “We are incredibly shocked and disappointed to learn last week that she would no longer serve as DYRS director, especially given that there does not appear to be a good plan behind or reason for such a decision,” said Eduardo Ferrer, a Georgetown University visiting law professor and policy director of the school’s Juvenile Justice Initiative. Cairns announced her departure to staff in a Feb. 7 email reviewed by The Post, writing that “the Mayor wants to move in a different direction and requested my resignation.” Deadly violence among youth has increased in Washington. Eighteen children and teenagers were victims of homicide in 2022, and more than 80 youths were shot and injured. That same year, more than 380 children and teenagers were arrested for themselves committing violent crimes — an increase from the year prior. In the first six weeks of this year, two 13-year-olds were killed in the District. Bowser appointed Cairns to lead the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services in July 2021, noting her experience in the city’s Department of Human Services, where she launched a diversion program and a series of prevention and intervention initiatives focused on decreasing violence among youth. Cairns’s dismissal marks yet another change in leadership among the city’s public safety agencies. In January, Bowser picked Lindsey Appiah as her new deputy mayor for public safety. Last week, the mayor announced that Linda Harllee Harper would take over as head of the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, while keeping her role as director of the city’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention. In recent years, the Bowser administration has touted DYRS as a pioneer in juvenile justice, providing wraparound services to the city’s most vulnerable youth. But the DYRS of today grew out of a troubled past. A 1980s class-action lawsuit on behalf of youth detained in D.C. facilities resulted in a 35-year consent decree, which mandated sweeping changes to the city’s juvenile justice system. Since then, D.C. has replaced facilities, poured funding into DYRS and elevated the director of the agency to the mayor’s cabinet. The consent decree ended in 2020, and the mayor established an Office of Independent Juvenile Justice Facilities Oversight to make sure the agency continued to meet the standards imposed by the consent decree. Mark Jordan, executive director of the Office of Independent Juvenile Justice Facilities Oversight, said in his testimony for Monday’s oversight hearing that the agency is short staffed — a problem that many government agencies across the country, including in D.C., have experienced since the pandemic. Jordan also discussed in his testimony a contraband problem within the city’s youth detention facilities, which are run by DYRS. At one point, D.C. Council member Trayon White Sr. (D-Ward 8) asked about reports that a detainee had overdosed on fentanyl. Stanback said he could not speak to the details of the incident, but committed to providing White with a “full detailed report” after the hearing. Penelope Spain, the co-founder of the D.C.-based juvenile justice advocacy group Open City Advocates, said Monday morning that she was stunned and concerned to learn about Cairns’s dismissal. Spain said she found Cairns to be an effective leader. “Hilary is focused on community-based services and evidence-based practices, I’m concerned this is almost a knee-jerk reaction to get tough on crime,” Spain said. Brittany Mobley, chief of the Public Defender Services’ juvenile services program, said in a statement that, “PDS was surprised and disappointed by the news that Director Cairns was leaving.” Mobley praised Cairns’ work on therapeutic programming and said the former director “was committed to the success for youth in DYRS’s care and custody.” Kyle Swenson and Peter Hermann contributed to this report. |
Anonymous
| You’ll notice that all of those shocked and speaking out on the former directors behalf are defense attorneys, and pay attention to the fact that they touted her focus on “community based” services. Community based services essentially means keeping juvenile offenders in the community as opposed to detention, which is all when and good when a kid steals from the store but perhaps not so good when they are convicted of armed carjacking. Her dismissal begs the question of how many kids involved with violent crime, either as victims or perpetrators, were committed to her agency and were placed at home when they should have been in a more restrictive environment. |
Anonymous
| "What happened" is that juvenile crime is out of control in this city. Good move by the mayor. |
Anonymous
These are great points. Sounds like she was too soft on crime prevention. |
Anonymous
I agree with you but it seems Ms. Cairns was caught off guard. |
Anonymous
| Very unusual for a DC politician to upset activists. Must be hitting a breaking point |
Anonymous
The violent crime uptick in DC is largely driven by teens, so it’s not that surprising Mayor Bowser came for DYRS’s director. The director was a social worker and incapable of understanding that some kids present too much of a risk to be placed in the community. |
Anonymous
They probably didn’t expect it. |
Anonymous
Across all facets of government they’ve allowed the activists too much control. It’s time to wrestle it back. |
Anonymous
| I think something personal happened between them. In time it will be revealed |
Anonymous
this seems to be the only reason officials leave. |
Anonymous
She had been in government for a while |
Anonymous
| Any updates on Hilary? It’s been six months and we never really got an answer as to why she was forced to resign. She must have found employment by now. |
Anonymous
Teen crime continues to spiral out of control... |
Anonymous
They will probably place her at an agency that doesn’t have a Director, like Forensic Services or new DCRA. God forbid the Mayor look outside of long-time District employees to find someone to run an agency. |