The Oregon Youth Authority’s facility system provides both secure and transitional environments that ensure public safety and provide accountability and reformation opportunities to youth who represent an unacceptable risk in the community.
 
The OYA facility system includes ten facilities located in communities across Oregon. The facilities provide the highest level of security and range in size and function and provide a continuum of evidence based services established to prepare youth for return to the community with a lower risk to re-offend. Youth generally live in units of 25 youth, with many of the reformation and treatment activities conducted in these units.

OYA facilities offer a full range of supportive services for youth.  These include mental health interventions and counseling, treatment for victims of abuse, physical and dental health care, religious/spiritual services, recreational programs and work experience.   

Founded on the principles of personal responsibility, accountability, and reformation, these facilities provide high security, intensive accountability, and treatment designed to meet the specific reformation needs of youth while protecting the public from further criminal behavior.  A continuum of reformation and rehabilitative services are provided both by OYA employees and contracted providers from the private sector. 

Oregon strives to be a national leader in effective correctional services to young women with positive measurable outcomes.  Oregon is committed to providing gender specific programming and services for young women offenders in the OYA system.

Oak Creek Youth Correctional Facility 

4400 Lochner Road SE
Albany, OR  97322
 
Information:  541-791-5900
FAX:   541-791-5937

Transition programs provide a bridge from the secure facilities to a community placement. They provide youth the opportunity to continue treatment, attend school and build vocational skills. Youth work on community service projects, supervised work crews and town jobs to instill a work ethic, accountability and responsibility through payment of restitution to both victims and the community.

• Click for more information on the individual facilities' visitation hours and rules.

All OYA facilities provide services designed to reduce future criminal and anti-social thought and behavior through a variety of treatment services.  OYA continues to emphasize evidence-based treatment approaches.  These approaches are based primarily on Cognitive Behavioral and Social Learning models.  OYA places a high value on providing services that are culturally competent and gender-specific to provide offenders the best opportunity for positive change.

Reformation services focus on reducing criminogenic risk factors and building positive, pro-social skills.  These concepts are implemented in OYA facilities through a multi-disciplinary team approach that utilizes appropriate assessment measures to identify areas of risk and needs.  These areas are then addressed through the implementation of an individualized case plan for each youth.  Parents are encouraged to participate in case planning by attending multi-disciplinary meetings and family visitation.  

Treatment Services has a primary role in meeting these OYA goals:

• Reduce juvenile crime by providing an appropriate continuum of services based upon risk/needs, supporting juvenile crime prevention efforts, and continuously seeking program and service improvements, using research and quality assurance as guides.
  
  
• Ensure accountability of the juvenile justice system by creating an open agency that uses data and research to guide practices, uses performance measures, and evaluates its programs and practices for efficiency and effectiveness.

Click for information on OYA's Treatment Services.

Education services are provided in all facilities by a local school district or education service district through contract with the Oregon Department of Education. 

OYA provides several work experience opportunities for eligible youth in OYA custody. Youth receive occupational safety training, vocational training, and hands on work experience in jobs that will lead to employment in the community upon release. Work experiences include supervised work crews, assistants in various trades under the close supervision of skilled trade people, and specialized vocational programs aligned with emerging businesses and technologies. 
 
In addition to learning specific vocational skills, youth also learn the responsibilities of being prepared, productive and engaged in the job they are assigned.

Click for information on OYA's Facility Youth Work Programs.

Youth-Made Products

OYA youth make a wide variety of products while participating in vocational education and workskills programs to gain experience in a trade or business practice. By-products of these skill building programs are available to the public to purchase.

Click for information on vocational programs and youth-made products.

Performance-based Standards (PbS)

Since 1998, all of OYA's youth correctional facilities have participated in the Performance-based Standards (PbS) project.  This project is designed to improve the conditions of confinement and quality of programming through measurement of specific standards in the areas of safety, security, order, health/mental health, programming, justice, and reintegration.
 
Oregon was the first state to include all of its youth correctional facilities in the PbS project, and has since added its transition program to PbS. 
 
The project is sponsored by the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJDDP) and administered by the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators (CJCA). 

Frequently asked questions by families of youth committed to OYA custody

Facility-related policies

OYA Youth Reformation System (YRS)

Keeping youth safe - The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA)

Education services for youth in OYA close custody

Health care services for youth in OYA close custody

Multicultural services for youth in OYA close custody

Nutrition services for youth in OYA close custody

Treatment services for youth in OYA close custody

Volunteering to help youth succeed

Delivering services to youth while managing costs