The teen was released on a weekend pass despite the fact that he had a history of arrests linked with gun crimes.

According to DCS policy, "off campus visits and passes may be denied only if the youth" has committed "major violations" in the last 30 days.

DCS says it "will be coordinating with local law enforcement to notify them when youth will be in the community on a home pass."

The Department of Children’s Services is re-evaluating its policies after police said a 16-year-old with a violent history was released from custody on a weekend home pass, never returned and then shot a man at a gas station.

Home passes are designed to give juvenile offenders in custody time to ease into outside life, with therapy and support from experts, an agency spokeswoman said. But the shooting earlier this month highlights potential risks in the system.

Police said 16-year-old David Earl Mays was trying to carjack a driver filling his tank at a gas station when he opened fire, hitting the victim in the torso. The victim was rushed to the hospital and needed multiple surgeries.

Mays was released on a weekend pass despite the fact that he had a history of arrests linked with gun crimes and displayed violent behavior in the weeks before he was temporarily released from DCS custody.

Police said Mays was "no stranger" to the department, pointing out that he was arrested in July and charged with robbing two men at gunpoint and stealing their cars and belongings.

After Mays was charged in the shooting, Nashville prosecutors said they wanted to try him as an adult. The Tennessean is naming him because of the severity of the allegations.

DCS doesn’t track global statistics on what happens to juveniles released on weekend passes. Those records are kept only in individual juveniles' files, meaning officials don't know how many juveniles abscond or re-offend while out on a home pass.

Agency spokeswoman Carrie Weir confirmed officials were reassessing the home pass policy after the shooting.

"The department regularly reviews policies, in general, but recent events also play a factor in this one," Weir said. "Some questions when we review or create policies are around meeting state and federal guidelines and best practices."

DCS documents show Mays had a history of 'disruptive behavior'

Mays was remanded to DCS custody after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including handgun possession, aggravated robbery and theft of $2,500 or more, on July 31, according to documents obtained by The Tennessean.

While in DCS custody, he continued to exhibit violent behavior, according to the documents.

Mays was identified as the aggressor in a physical assault Dec. 15 at the Academy for Young Men on Stewarts Ferry Pike, according to a Jan. 2 DCS memo.

On Dec. 21, he was transferred to the Gateway Academy for Young Men on Stewarts Lane "due to disruptive behavior and involvement in several serious incidents," according to the memo.

Yet, weeks later, DCS allowed Mays to leave on a weekend home pass.

According to DCS policy, "off campus visits and passes may be denied only if the youth" has committed "major violations" — like arson, carrying a dangerous weapon or crimes against a person — in the last 30 days.

Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said the department isn't currently told when juveniles are released from DCS custody. Mays' grandfather reported him missing to police after he didn't return to custody on Feb. 3.

“Perhaps DCS should consider informing local law enforcement when a juvenile who has committed a violent crime or a major crime like home burglary is being given a weekend pass,” Aaron said.

Weir confirmed that would be part of the review and that the agency "will be coordinating with local law enforcement to notify them when youth will be in the community on a home pass."

A spokesman for TrueCore Behavioral, the private company contracted to operate the Nashville facility where Mays had last stayed, said Mays was not its responsibility while on temporary home pass.

"While a youth is on home pass, he is in the custody of his parents and not under the supervision of the program," spokesman Jack Eich said in an email. "Parents are required to sign a temporary custody agreement."

Juvenile justice reforms shift focus away from lockups

Tennessee and other states have shifted their approach to juvenile justice in recent years, driven by research that shows sending youths to more restrictive environments, including jail-like lockups, increases the likelihood that they will re-offend.

The number of youths committed to juvenile facilities nationwide dropped by more than half between 2001 and 2013, according to the nonprofit advocacy group The Sentencing Project.

Tennessee already has cut the number of jail-like lockups in recent years. Only two "hardware secure" facilities remain: a 120-bed facility in West Tennessee and a 24-bed facility run by TrueCore in East Tennessee.

The favored alternative is to offer more support in less restrictive settings, including group homes and other facilities that offer home passes to "prepare youth for successful community re-entry," according to DCS policy.

"Young people go home to their families, so keeping them close to home and in contact with their families is a focus so they can gradually reintegrate into their family and community," Weir said in an email.

Like the Academy for Young Men and the Gateway Academy for Young Men, many of these facilities are contracted out to private companies to operate.

Last year, former Gov. Bill Haslam signed the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2018, which aimed to shrink the number of youths in custody and budgeted $4.5 million for services for at-risk youth.

Aaron Kupchik, a University of Delaware professor and expert on juvenile justice, said layering in home passes could be helpful for youths in state custody.

“In general, allowing youths to form connections back in the community before their full release tends to reduce recidivism and reduce eventual crimes," Kupchik said. “If we’re thinking about policy that benefits the greatest number, in general, it wouldn’t be a good idea to scale back and make things more punitive."

Kupchik noted incarceration can be necessary in some cases.

It can be a hard balance to strike, he said, especially when high-profile violence draws attention to the risks associated with less restrictive policies.

In addition to the shooting at the East Nashville gas station, the January death of Kyle Yorlets also drew urgent calls for an increased focus on juvenile justice. Five juveniles, ages 12 to 16, were charged in the Yorlets case.

“The public has a right to feel protected, and the public is reasonable when they get upset that somebody dangerous is on the street," Kupchik said.

“But at the same time,” he said, states that scale back incarceration “tend to keep the community safer overall."

Reform-minded leaders in the Tennessee General Assembly have said high-profile juvenile crimes illustrate the need for more emphasis on mental health treatment and interventions that target early behavioral problems in schools.

When it comes to data, expert says, 'we should know a lot more'

Simon Singer, a criminology professor at Northeastern University in Boston, said Tennessee could focus immediate improvements around data collection, including tracking the outcome of home passes.

It is hard to predict juvenile violence, Singer said. But tracking the youths who flee or re-offend after getting home passes could help identify some risk factors.

“I think juvenile justice statistics have a long way to go," Singer said. “You could protect confidentiality and the kids' names, but we should know a lot more."

A task force created to identify possible reforms to juvenile justice in Tennessee also found "insufficient and inconsistent" data collection that makes it impossible to track what tactics work best to keep young people from committing crimes.

Haslam's juvenile justice reform push in 2018 included a call for better data collection across the state.

Anita Wadhwani contributed to this report.

Reach Adam Tamburin at atamburin@tennessean.com or 615-726-5986 and on Twitter @tamburintweets.

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