Mailing Address: 959 Centre Road, Building #15, Wilmington, DE 19805
Ferris School is a secure care, ACA accredited treatment facility providing services for up to 72 court committed males, ages 13 to 18. Ferris, in his last will and testament of 1882, designated his cousin, Dr. Caleb Harlan, as the administrator of his estate and bade him employ it “for the benefit of any of the necessary portion of the human family that may come to his knowledge.” He even suggested a “house of refuge” or a place for bettering wayward juveniles as worthwhile projects. Throughout the youth’s stay, treatment staff maintains contact with the family to assist with a successful family reunification.Youth programming includes: Drug and alcohol treatment, conflict resolution, aggression replacement training, violence prevention, gun violence, victim sensitivity, and youth mentoring services. The Ferris School remained there until 1983, when the Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families (RG 1501), a cabinet level agency, was formed. If you have a concern or complaint related to the Department, our services, staff or policies please email it to info.dscyf@delaware.gov.. As a result of this request, the state finally accepted responsibility for the facility with its activities being monitored by, ironically, the New Castle County Levy Court. The Division of Corrections, in 1975, was taken from Department of Health and Social Services to become a wholly independent Department of Corrections. The average length of stay is six months, followed by a six-week transition program. Dr. Harlan took his cousin’s suggestion to heart and drew together some of Wilmington’s most influential citizens to form a loose organization to found such an institution. Established initially as a private rehabilitative facility, the Ferris School was the brainchild of John Ferris, Jr., a well-respected Wilmington humanitarian. Treatment staff facilitate programming and are required to have a bachelor’s degree in education or behavioral science.In 2018 Ferris School was honored to receive the Barbara Allen Hagen award from PbS (Performance Based Standards) for their improvement plan of reducing youth assaults and fights. It is not monitored 24/7.Instead please call our Child … The appropriation by Levy Court still did not stem the flow of red ink, and in 1919, the Legislature was again petitioned. The Board of Trustees asked the Legislature to force the New Castle County Levy Court to help provide support for the inmates, largely because most of the boys had been committed to the institution by the county courts, as a means of accommodating errant boys instead of packing them off to jail. Staff is trained to view every interaction with the youth as a learning opportunity to enhance their pro-social skills. To better administer the facility, the Youth Services Commission of Delaware was formed in 1957. The Delaware Children's Department, State of Delaware, provides integrated services for the health and well-being of Delaware's children and their families. On March 10, 1885, the act of incorporation was approved, with a governing body of twenty-one managers, including the mayor of Wilmington, the Chief Judge of the New Castle County Superior Court and the President of the New Castle County Levy Court. Youth committed to Ferris are identified as serious and/or chronic repeat offenders, who pose a risk to themselves or others and require intensive rehabilitative treatment. This email is not for use for reporting suspected reports of abuse or neglect. In 1943, the school’s name officially became the Ferris School for Boys. (Note: The members were carried over to a new Council on Youth Services, an advisory group to the Director of the Division of Corrections.) They purchased a 197-acre plot of land called “Woodside,” which lay just outside Wilmington, and drew up an organizational proposal to be submitted to the Legislature.