ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A class action civil rights lawsuit was filed last week against New York state’s Office of Children and Family Services. The more than 40-page document alleges that children as young as 12 years old are routinely being put into solitary confinement at five of the state’s secure placement facilities.

What You Need To Know

A civil rights lawsuit against the state’s Office for Children and Family Services alleges that kids as young as 12 years old are being put into solitary confinement
The complaint says children are being put in cells with no access to use the bathroom, no socialization, recreation or education, for 24 hours at a time 
There are five secure placement facilities across the state for children charged with serious crime to go to for rehabilitation
Plaintiffs say solitary confinement is being used as a punishment, and to address the facilities staffing shortages
NYSOCFS says it does not condone or endorse the use of isolation for punishment, and the complaint will be thoroughly examined before responding with the appropriate legal process

“The system is intended to be a rehabilitative system, because we know that young people are extremely susceptible to rehabilitation. Their brains are still developing. And so putting them into isolated confinement is really the absolute worst idea for how to treat a young person,” Lisa Freeman, with the Legal Aid Society, said.

Freeman is the attorney-in-charge of special litigation and the law reform unit in the juvenile rights practice. She says there are around 300 children at these facilities across the state, and the lawsuit cites facilities located in Columbia, Orange, Cayuga, Monroe and Tompkins counties. According to the complaint, children are being held in cells for up to 24 hours a day, with no access to socialization, recreation or education, and nowhere to use the bathroom. The complaint says children are being forced to go to the bathroom in containers or bottles.

“It’s frankly a barbaric situation,” Freeman said. “They are being forced to pee into bottles or trash bins, because literally the facilities were not designed to be operated this way, because no one is supposed to be treating you this way. They don’t have things for mental stimulation. It’s not like their televisions or radios or anything like that in the rooms. They’re limited in the number of books that they can have. They’re not being provided education or other programing that they’re entitled to. So, I mean, the entire system is frankly not being run in the way that it is supposed to be run. And our young people are suffering.”

The lawsuit lists a number of stories from Freeman’s clients, some of whom say they would rather be kept in a state facility for adults.

“You basically are telling this person that they have no value, and that absolutely is not how we should be treating our young people,” she explained, “One of our plaintiffs, as a result of his experience, began experiencing suicidal thoughts. Others have described losing a sense of themselves. They become so desperate and depressed, that lack of mental stimulation, that lack of peer contact, they’re not allowed recreation with other young people.”

The federal complaint alleges that solitary confinement is being used as punishment, or to assist with the facility’s staffing shortages.

The OCFS did not provide information about its staffing, but in a statement, it says:

“We are aware of the lawsuit filed by the Legal Aid Society, which challenges certain juvenile justice protocols. The complaint will be thoroughly examined and we will respond through the appropriate legal process.

“OCFS does not endorse or condone the use of isolation for punishment. We have clear protocols that are designed to ensure the safety of youth, and staff, while incorporating trauma-informed and mental health-responsive practices. We will continue to work diligently to ensure the safety and well-being of all those under care of our facilities.”

“They need to be ensuring that there are sufficient staff, if that is what is driving some of this practice, they need to ensure that no one is being placed in solitary confinement as a punitive measure and they need to ensure that kids are being given the services that they’re entitled to, and not being forced to live in inhumane conditions,” Freeman said.

Freeman describes some of the clients listed in the lawsuit as children who have been convicted and sentenced to serious crimes, that would otherwise warrant them to be tried as an adult. However, she says everyone has their constitutional rights. Freeman claims these children’s 8th and 14th Amendment rights are being violated, as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act in some cases. She says 60% of incarcerated children live with some kind of disability.

The time frame of this alleged conduct is unclear, but attorneys are hoping for a conversation with the state to discuss settlement options. The OCFS says this complaint will be thoroughly examined.