There have been 956 reports of mistreatment and complaints made by youth in custody of the state’s juvenile justice system this year.

It’s the highest number of complaints filed since 2019, ranging from reports of abuse to complaints about the conditions of the facility.

Earlier this year, news broke that there was a massive backlog of complaints at the Oregon Youth Authority that weren’t fully investigated. A spokesman for the youth authority said officials sent a message to the youth in their custody this year that if they complained, it would be investigated.

“We had a significant internal concern that the reputation of the (office that accepts complaints) and the news would make people feel like, ‘why report’ when they aren’t going to do anything,” said Will Howell, a spokesman for the Oregon Youth Authority. “So we spent a lot of time this year reminding youth to report.”

Gov. Tina Kotek fired the head of the Oregon Youth Authority in March after several allegations of misconduct came to light, including the backlog of complaints that weren’t fully investigated.

The Oregonian/OregonLive first reported on the backlog. The current leadership said they have managed to work through the massive backlog, winnowing it down to 534 outstanding cases from March to 75 remaining cases as of December.

Out of the 956 complaints filed so far this year, 783 were investigated and have been closed. Nine are still under investigation with the Oregon State Police.

The youth authority is part of the state’s juvenile justice system. It oversees and operates five youth correctional facilities and four transitional facilities, including MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn.

There are about 850 kids in the custody of the state’s juvenile justice system. People ages 12 to 24 convicted of crimes are housed in Oregon Youth Authority facilities.

In April, the governor hired Katherine O. Berger, a criminal defense attorney, to work in her office as an ombudsman for the teens and young adults in the state’s custody. Berger, also known as K.O., previously worked at the Oregon Public Defense Commission.

Berger declined to comment to OPB for this story. But in a press release when she was hired, officials at the youth authority said her role would be to “help young people and their loved ones navigate OYA, raise concerns and understand their rights and options.”

“This position is not going to work if I’m just sitting in an office in the central office and I’m not seeing,” Berger said in the press release. “You need to be present. They need to kind of see that you really are invested in what’s going on.”

In June, the district attorney in Marion County said she would be investigating the conditions and management at the youth authority’s largest prison, the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn.

The grand jury will issue a report, which will be released to the public before the end of the year. Marion County is required to look into the condition of every correctional facility and youth correctional facility in its county annually.

But with the increased scrutiny and level of allegations on MacLaren this year, the report is expected to be more robust than usual.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/12/19/youth-in-oregon-juvenile-justice-system-filed-956-complaints-this-year/