VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood is teaming up with partner agencies to bring a new Juvenile Assessment Center to Daytona Beach.

The Volusia County council voted to fund the center with $5.4 million in federal relief funding from the American Rescue Plan.

What You Need To Know

  • New Juvenile Assessment Center opening later this year in Daytona Beach

  • The Volusia County Sheriff's Office is seeing more of a need for this in the community

  • Teens will get evaluated and have access to all services they might need at the juvenile center

Chitwood shared that the impetus for this center was the incident back in June 2021 involving a 14 year old girl shooting at deputies, which really highlighted the need for a center like this.

The center will house officials from the Department of Juvenile Justice, SMA Healthcare, Halifax Behavioral Services, the Children’s Home Society of Florida and Volusia County Schools. Every child who is brought in will be screened for what services they need. Chitwood said he is seeing more of a need for this in the community. He hopes this will help kids get early access to the help they need before things escalate. 

“Just because you are a kid in school or you are a juvenile doesn't mean that you don't have the same problems that adults have in society," he said. "So, it is being able to access those services all under one roof as opposed to everybody saying, 'Well, I specialize in this, you specialize in that.' No, lets do a complete head-to-toe assessment with all the providers there and get them diverted from the system."

According to Chitwood, the plan is to open the new assessment center on Oct. 1. He is confident it will make a big impact on the community, explaining that a similar center in Seminole County has been successful. Teens brought to the center will not be housed at the center and families will also be able to go there if their child needs mental/substance abuse help. 

The facility will be located in an existing building at 1150 Red John Road, Daytona Beach. The funding approved by the county covers the cost of modifying the building to accommodate the program, plus four years of Sheriff’s Office operations there.

Chitwood said the sheriff's office has been working on a pilot program with DCF for the last 5 months and has already helped 69 kids.