Longtime Juvenile Worker Named Superintendent of OJA’s Central Oklahoma Juvenile Center
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
TECUMSEH (July 5, 2022) - Darryl K. Fields, who has more than 30 years of experience working with juveniles, has been named superintendent of the Office of Juvenile Affairs’ (OJA) Central Oklahoma Juvenile Center (COJC).
Fields, who has served as COJC’s interim superintendent for the past year, has worked with adjudicated juveniles in Level E group homes and within the juvenile court system. He also has experience licensing juvenile facilities and administration of secure facilities.
“A year ago, we asked Darryl Fields to step into the role of interim superintendent at our COJC campus,” said OJA Executive Director Rachel Holt. “At the time, the facility was operating during a major construction project, we were still recovering from a pandemic, and staff and resident morale was low. It was a huge task and Darryl met that moment. He developed a leadership academy for our staff and his strong relationships with our kids have led to a cultural change at COJC. Our residents and staff know that the state has invested in the physical plant at COJC and, under Superintendent Fields’s leadership, OJA is also investing in the culture at COJC. His work this past year has been exceptional, and I am honored to make his post permanent.”
Fields, of Shawnee, started his career as a direct care staff member in a Level E facility. He also served five years as the administrator of a group home that served delinquent boys. He served four years as a juvenile justice specialist serving OJA youth in Oklahoma County court and worked briefly as OJA’s administrative programs officer in charge of OJA’s parole process.
He was also employed with OJA and the Office of Public Integrity as a program field representative for 14 years. In that capacity, he gained extensive knowledge of OJA’s divisions while developing valuable connections/friendships within all 77 counties the agency serves.
A $45 million building program called the Next Generational Campus recently was completed at COJC. The updated campus, which is designed to accommodate up to 144 youth, includes a new health clinic/intake center and new residential cottages featuring ample natural light. The seven cottages have high-ceiling dayrooms, and each resident has a bedroom with a window; units at COJC previously were open-dorm style with very little natural lighting. The new campus also offers space and landscaping designed for walking and talking. Improvements were made to the education/gymnasium building and to the administration building. Several outdated buildings, some a century old, were demolished.
As interim superintendent, Fields worked with staff in accepting his core values of relationship, role modeling, respect, and rewards.
“I believe a safe treatment environment is essential to positive juvenile outcomes,” Fields said. “I bring to the table a wealth of experience in which our secure care juveniles and their families will be edified. I will continue to guide our staff on effective treatment for our residents and to provide secure, juvenile justice services in a setting specifically built to provide rehabilitation for young people needing this level of care.”
Fields serves as a board member with Shawnee’s community renewal program and the Shawnee Police Department’s Cops-N-Kids. In addition, he is on Blue Zones of Pottawatomie County’s steering committee.
He is a father and has been married to his wife for 30 years. He is also the pastor of Union Missionary Baptist Church in Shawnee. Fields is a graduate of Luther High School and did undergraduate work at the University of Central Oklahoma.
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Darryl K. Fields
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