Federal auditors praised the staff of Oregon’s largest juvenile detention center, MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, for working swiftly to protect residents from harassment or inappropriate comments.
The Prison Rape Elimination Act (or PREA), created by the federal government more than two decades ago, creates a zero-tolerance policy for sexual abuse in correctional facilities. The idea is to ensure all detention facilities give inmates several ways to report sexual abuse and also ensure the allegations are investigated. Each of the Oregon Youth Authority’s nine facilities is audited every three years. In 2025, that included MacLaren and the Albany-based Oak Creek Youth Correctional Facilities and Jackie Winters Transition Program.
The audit released Monday by the youth authority found that “the vast majority of staff act immediately to protect residents from harassment and inappropriate comments” at MacLaren. And kids in custody also reported to the auditors they had “numerous examples of staff using wisdom and skill to prevent problems and to intervene and redirect when needed.”
It’s welcome news for a facility that’s been plagued by disturbing allegations of sexual misconduct and facing numerous lawsuits in the past couple of years…