Detention center plan moves forward

NEWBURY—A legislative panel voted on Nov. 12 to approve a plan to open a new state juvenile detention center in Newbury.
The Joint Legislative Justice Oversight Committee signed off on a recommendation from the Vermont Agency of Human Services and Vermont Department of Children and Families to enter into a contract with the Becket Family of Services for a six-bed, secure residential treatment program for youth involved in the state criminal justice system.
Under the deal with Becket, the state would spend more than $3.1 million to renovate a former bed and breakfast on 280 acres at the end of Stevens Place, a dirt-covered, dead-end road off of Fish Pond Road. For the last five years, Becket has been operating the Vermont Assessment Center at Newbury at the site