The Commitment and Placement Process

Upon commitment to DYS, a regionally based caseworker is assigned to the juvenile and assessments are done to help determine where the juvenile is placed and for how long. This decision is based on the nature and type of offense and the results of the assessment that evaluates the juvenile’s behavioral, social, educational and family background.

Youthful offenders sentenced as adults may serve their sentences in adult correctional facilities. Some adult correctional facilities utilize the DYS’s Plymouth Secure Unit located at the Plymouth County House of Correction to hold youthful offenders under the age of 17. Youthful offenders convicted in Juvenile Court can either be committed to DYS custody until the age of twenty-one, committed to DYS custody until the age of twenty-one with a concurrent suspended adult sentence (as described in detail in Chapter Three) or given a straight adult sentence. Youthful offenders with adult sentences are transferred to the appropriate custodial authority (House of Correction or State Prison) at age 17.

Sex Offender Registry Board
Victim Services Unit
P.O. Box 4547
Salem, Massachusetts 01970

The Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB) is a public safety agency responsible for determining if persons convicted (or adjudicated if a juvenile offender) of sex offenses who are living, working or attending an institution of higher learning in Massachusetts have a duty to register. If so, the SORB is responsible for assessing the risk of reoffense and the degree of dangerousness sex offenders pose to the public. The primary goal of the SORB is to enhance public safety by providing the public with accurate information about sex offenders so they can make better decisions to protect themselves and their families.

The Sex Offender Registry Law (SORL) creates the SORB which is composed of Board members who are appointed by the Governor to serve specific terms. The SORL requires that the Board include experts in the areas of victim services, criminal justice and the assessment and treatment of juvenile and adult sex offenders.