![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-14-at-4.20.51-PM.jpg\" "\\"Legal")
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The Legal Aid Society is demanding that the Administration for Children\u2019s Services (ACS) rectify what the group called a \u201c violation of fundamental rights\u201d for children in custody at juvenile detention centers in Brooklyn and the Bronx.<\/p>\n
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The Legal Aid Society<\/a> is demanding that the Administration for Children\u2019s Services (ACS)<\/a> rectify what the group called a \u201c violation of fundamental rights\u201d for children in custody at juvenile detention centers in Brooklyn<\/a> and the Bronx<\/a>.<\/p>\n The non-profit, which provides free legal services to those who cannot afford attorneys, penned a letter to ACS Commissioner Jess Dannhauser demanding that conditions be improved immediately. According to the group, nearly 100 kids detained at Crossroads Juvenile Center in Brooklyn and Horizon Juvenile Center in the Bronx are being forced to sleep in hallways and classrooms, sometimes directly on the ground.<\/p>\n \u201cChildren in the care and custody of ACS are being deprived of sleep, safety, and dignity,\u201d Dawne Mitchell, chief attorney of the Juvenile Rights Practice at The Legal Aid Society, said on Tuesday. \u201cThey are sleeping on floors, surrounded by noise and chaos, without access to basic hygiene or privacy. These are conditions no child should ever endure \u2014 especially not while in the custody of a city agency whose mandate is to protect and care for them. What\u2019s happening in these facilities is not just neglectful \u2014 it\u2019s a violation of their fundamental rights and a failure of the very systems meant to safeguard New York\u2019s most vulnerable youth.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to accusations that some youths do not have access to beds, Legal Aid also charged that these facilities have seen an uptick in violence and a lack of educational assets. Some juvenile detainees have even been hospitalized as a result of the brutality, while staff failed to notify parents of the injuries.<\/p>\n Moreover, the attorneys claim that, despite the law, the children are often not brought to class or provided with proper materials.\n<\/p>\n According to the letter, a copy of which was obtained by amNewYork, in one instance, a young person was left with 70 stitches following an assault, while another two were injured in a fight over a mattress.<\/p>\n Sources within the ACS disputed these claims, stating that no children sleep on the floor and every youth has a bed to sleep in, albeit in shared space. The sources also pushed back, arguing that claims of an increase in youth violence are not accurate, adding that these incidents have decreased.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for ACS said that they will review the Legal Aid Society\u2019s letter, but are already making strides to improve conditions.\n<\/p>\n \u201cACS is committed to nurturing a safe environment in our secure detention centers, where young people can learn and develop life skills to successfully navigate their futures. With the help of our hardworking staff, community partners, these young people, and their families, we\u2019ve decreased violence over the last three years and increased graduations from our programs, despite an increased level of youth in our care,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cWe will review Legal Aid\u2019s recommendations, but to meet these enhanced needs and the increasing number of older youth in detention, we are already building a brand new annex at Horizon Juvenile Center that will add residential and educational space; and are actively exploring plans for additional capacity. We are also actively implementing the Mayor\u2019s Youth Safety and Success Initiative to reach youth in communities to prevent violence and entry into Detention.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the attorneys declared ACS has known about these issues for more than two years but has failed to implement any solution. The Legal Aid Society called the issues a \u201cfestering wound in New York City\u2019s detention system.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Legal Aid Society is demanding that the Administration for Children\u2019s Services (ACS) rectify what the group called…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2408,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[3044,128,98,3045,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-2407","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-acs","9":"tag-bronx","10":"tag-brooklyn","11":"tag-legal-aid-soceity","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-the-bronx","16":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","17":"tag-the-bronx-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}