Alabama Department of Youth Services Changes Record Keeping Policy

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – (AP) - The Alabama Department of Youth Services is making big changes to the way it keeps records.
The department is in its first year of switching from paper to mostly electronic record keeping. Now, contractors enter data into spreadsheets instead of just filling out incident reports to turn in to DYS and put into the child's file.
That way the data can be easily viewed and analyzed on
electronic spreadsheets.
DYS officials say it's already paying off after they noticed
that some private contractors were using restraints too frequently
and the employees involved were usually recent hires.
That led to more training and pairing new employees with
seasoned ones who could demonstrate that there are usually better
ways to respond.
Advocates for juveniles are praising the record keeping
improvements and say it's been a long time coming.