The Vacca Campus of the Alabama Department of Youth Services in Northeast Birmingham, Alabama is composed of fourteen (14) buildings on 194 acres. The campus was founded over 90 years ago to serve as an alternative to jail for young juvenile boys and continued to serve juveniles under age sixteen until the late 1970’s when the juvenile age was increased by state statute. Shortly after the Department of Youth Services assumed control of the campus in 1975, the Vacca Campus was designated as the institution whose special emphasis would be educational remediation of students with low academic functioning. In 1991 the campus was designated as one of two facilities where serious juvenile offenders would be placed. Students are taught the importance of making choices and the consequences of making both appropriate and inappropriate choices. The program provides a wide range of services which include but are not limited to group and individual counseling, social skills, sex education, medical services, remediation of basic skills (math, reading, language arts, science, and history) and physical education.

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