The mission of the DYS is "to enable youth to fulfill their needs in a responsible manner with respect for the needs of their families and their communities." In fulfilling this mission, DYS is committed to protecting the safety of Missouri citizens by providing individualized, comprehensive, needs-based services that ultimately enable youth to reintegrate into the home and community. In fiscal year 2008, 1,172 youth were committed to DYS; 85.5 percent of youth committed to DYS were male. The average age of all youth committed was 15.1 years old, and the average youth had 9 years of schooling at the time of commitment. Of all youth receiving DYS educational services, 23.3 percent had an educational disability. A history of prior mental health services was identified for 46.3 percent of the youth, and 53.5 percent had a history of prior substance abuse. The most serious felonies were committed by 12.7 percent of the youth admitted to DYS, and 40.6 percent were committed for less serious felonies; 9.6 percent were committed for juvenile offenses, and 37 percent were committed for misdemeanors and other nonfelonies. Youth from single-parent homes constituted 55.7 percent of all youth committed; 66.4 percent of the youth were from metropolitan areas. The recidivism rate during the fiscal year was 9.6 percent. This refers to the percentage of youth re-entering the division during the fiscal year who had received discharges during the current or previous fiscal years. 7 tables, 22 figures, and appended offenses by gender, commitment by circuit and county, facility use, and historical timeline of DYS