About Charles

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Charles Parkins is a juvenile justice professional working in the field for over 25 years. Currently, Charles Parkins is the Program Director for a large juvenile correctional and assessment facility in Arkansas and the Managing Director for Human Acuity Consulting LLC.  Charles has worked now in seven different states in a variety of management positions from facility director of a rural facility in Central Florida to managing detention services in one of the largest cities in the country, NYC.    

His career has provided him with the opportunity to work in Florida, Connecticut, Indiana, Colorado, Arizona, New York (NYC) and Arkansas. He has worked in prevention, detention, probation, and residential treatment settings. Additionally, Charles has served as the Chair for the Residential Treatment Group for the National Partnership for Juvenile Services, serving on the executive board for that same agency.    

As Superintendent of the largest juvenile detention facility in Indiana, he established a public/private partnership to bring youth and dogs from the local animal care and control together for training by youth in custody. The youth learn soft skills like compassion and empathy as well as positive reinforcement. The dogs receive valuable training and exposure to enhance their adoption potential, the adoption rates are an overwhelming success. This program continues to this day.  https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/giving-kids-a-new-leash-on-life   

As Director of the Colorado Division of Youth Corrections (now Services) Charles oversaw a team of dedicated staff to ensure Colorado youth received care in prevention, detention, treatment, and parole services. Charles successfully worked with youth advocates from the ACLU to help codify best practices in youth care regarding seclusion as statute and made operational changes that ensure youth received more enhanced supervision to ensure safety while in care.    

Serving as Deputy Associate Commissioner for the NYC Administration for Children's Services, Division of Youth and Family Justice, Charles was brought in to manage the important Raise the Age legislation and to develop a process to remove the youth from Riker’s Island and then to remove the NYC Department of Correction from the Horizon Juvenile Center, transitioning to juvenile justice professionals overseeing the day to day operations. This multi-agency project was completed ahead of schedule and was an overwhelming success.     

In 2020, Charles was overseeing NYC juvenile detention services when the COVID-19 global pandemic hit. As the epicenter of this pandemic in the United States at the early onset of the pandemic, it was particularly challenging to manage 24/7 operations overseeing incarcerated children when youth, staff and families were facing uncertain times.     

Despite the pandemic operations in the centers continued and new means of accessing education, new sanitization routines were developed, and an entirely new schedule was created for all staff to enhance safety for youth and staff. Each of these ventures were widely successful and despite having major staffing issues, coverage was maintained, youth were never locked down and overtime was even drastically reduced due to efficient scheduling. Most importantly, when the pandemic was at its height, and public information was changing by the hour, our youth stayed safe and healthy.   

A lifelong advocate for children and public safety, Charles understands the delicate balance needed to ensure that youth rights are protected while they receive treatment for the betterment of public safety. “In almost every case each of these youth will reenter society; most in a matter of months. It is our job to ensure that when that happens, they are better prepared to be successful despite the challenges many will face with little or no support. These youth may one day be caring for us, today we care for them.”     

As a graduate of Florida State University, Charles holds a bachelor's in Sociology and graduated from the Florida State University Askew School of Business as a Certified Public Manager.  Additionally, he attended Waldon University studying Psychology specializing in security groups and terrorism. At home, Charles spends his time with his high school sweetheart who agreed to be his wife nearly 30 years ago, their Golden Retriever Tucker, and beautiful kitty, Luna.