Possia Sanders has been named facility director at Richmond-Jenkins Juvenile Detention Center in Hoffman.
Sanders began his new role on Sept. 25, and will serve as a key leader in the opening of the newly renovated Richmond Juvenile Detention Center in Rockingham upon its anticipated completion in 2025.
Prior to joining the Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention as a youth counselor technician at Cumberland Regional Juvenile Detention Center in 2019, Sanders served in numerous capacities in the private sector, education, social services and non-profit fields. He was promoted to shift supervisor at Cumberland JDC in 2019.
For 20 years, Sanders worked with at-risk youth and juveniles with mental illness, managing group homes, and providing intensive in-home services, multisystemic therapy and cognitive behavior services. He also spent several years in education at Cumberland County Schools, and was executive director at Called Into Action, a nonprofit in Hoke County that provided counseling, teen court and community service opportunities for youth. Immediately prior to joining JJDP, Sanders was an investigative social worker for the Cumberland County Department of Social Services.
“I am extremely pleased to see Mr. Sanders step into this leadership role at Richmond-Jenkins JDC,” said Angela Smith, JJDP Director of Facility Operations. “His extensive experience working with youth, coupled with the outstanding leadership he has shown in his time as a supervisor at Cumberland JDC, makes him the perfect person to have at the helm of this new facility as we begin operations. The opening of Richmond-Jenkins is an important first step in helping address the ongoing capacity challenges facing our juvenile detention centers across the state. I wish Mr. Sanders all the best as he begins his new duties as director and am excited to support him and the entire Richmond-Jenkins JDC staff as we bring this facility online.”
Sanders holds a bachelor’s degree from Fayetteville State University, where he played football and ran track. In his spare time, he enjoys reading and attending worship services.
The Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is currently seeking qualified candidates to fill youth services behavioral specialist positions at Richmond-Jenkins JDC.
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