New Superintendent for OR Juvenile Facility
A juvenile corrections administrator with 33 years of experience was 
named today as superintendent of the 295-bed MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn. Reported by the Woodburn Independant.
Isidro “Sid” Thompson, superintendent of the 50-bed RiverBend facility in La Grande for the past two years, will start the new job Feb. 22. MacLaren serves male sex offenders, violent offenders, those with substance abuse issues, older male youth and the majority of the male Oregon Department of Corrections population committed to OYA facilities.
“Sid Thompson’s three decades of diverse responsibilities in juvenile corrections have made him an effective and respected leader,” said Colette S. Peters, OYA director. MacLaren youth and staff will benefit from the wealth of experience, knowledge and compassion he brings to the job.”
MacLaren, serving nearly a third of OYA youth in close-custody facilities, plays a major role in the agency’s mission to protect the public and reduce crime by holding youth offenders accountable and providing opportunities for reformation in safe environments.
Thompson joined the Oregon Youth Authority in February 2008 after a 31-year career with the Arkansas Division of Youth Services, where he was assistant director of residential operations. He also managed juvenile correctional facilities and residential treatment facilities in Arkansas and consulted with five states.
OYA will begin a recruitment for a permanent superintendent at RiverBend in approximately three months. Brian Blisard, treatment manager at RiverBend, will serve as interim superintendent of that facility.
At MacLaren, Thompson succeeds Mike Riggan, who resigned to accept a position with the Washington County Juvenile Department as juvenile division manager in charge of the Harkins House juvenile shelter in Hillsboro.
“Washington County has recruited a professional who has proved himself as an organizational leader who has the support of his staff and whose work benefits youth in OYA’s care and custody,” Peters said.
OYA has custody of approximately 900 youth offenders ages 12 to 24 in correctional and transitional facilities in Albany, Burns, Florence, Grants Pass, La Grande, Salem, Tillamook, Warrenton and Woodburn. The agency also supervises approximately 1,100 youth on parole and probation in communities throughout Oregon.
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