New York City is taking steps to reduce the number of teens in juvenile detention following years of overcrowding.<\/p>\n
The plan, which will be formally unveiled on Tuesday, includes increasing access to community-based programs to reduce the number of young people at Crossroads Juvenile Center in Brownsville and Horizon Juvenile Center in the South Bronx, the mayor\u2019s office told Gothamist.<\/p>\n
The administration is boosting funding for organizations that support 14- to 20-year-olds involved in the court system, including helping them to get back into school and find jobs. Funding for therapy programs that address issues like substance use, family conflict and truancy is being increased as well.<\/p>\n
The changes follow some prodding by the state. In July, the New York Office of Children and Family Services quietly declined to extend a waiver that for years has allowed the city to circumvent a state law that requires every teen in secure detention to have their own bedroom. Gothamist has reported on teens sleeping in classrooms<\/a>, hallways and other common spaces<\/a> amid a surge in youth detention since at least June 2023.<\/p>\n Rebecca Jones Gaston, who was appointed ACS commissioner in April, said in a statement that the agency is committed to providing a safe and supportive environment for all youth and staff. She said the agency plans to renovate its existing facilities, improve security measures, hire more staff and increase opportunities for education and job training.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ultimate goal is to provide trauma-informed supports and opportunities to help young people make different choices in order to thrive regardless of what’s next in their lives,\u201d Gaston said.<\/p>\n Crossroads and Horizon, the city\u2019s two secure juvenile detention facilities, have long been plagued by overcrowding. The average daily combined population at the facilities increased from about 160 young people<\/a> in 2022 to more than 300 last year<\/a>, according to data from the Administration for Children\u2019s Services.<\/p>\n By June of this year, the average daily population had risen even further, to 374 teens<\/a>, the latest data from the agency shows. The two facilities are supposed to house no more than a combined 259 people<\/a>.<\/p>\n As part of the new plan, the Department of Probation is launching a community monitoring program that will supervise and support young people living at home while their cases are pending in court. Court officials will also meet regularly with city officials to address delays in the legal system and get cases resolved more quickly, the mayor\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n For teens who remain in detention, City Hall said some who demonstrate good behavior and get permission from a judge can move to other, less secure facilities. The city is also expanding programming for those still at Crossroads and Horizon and expediting updates to the buildings.<\/p>\n Lisa Freeman, an attorney-in-charge at the Legal Aid Society\u2019s Juvenile Rights Practice, said officials should have acted sooner to address what she described as \u201cinhumane\u201d conditions in the juvenile detention centers.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aIt’s not a way for a system to function, and it’s been more than three years this has been going on,\u201d she said. \u201cIt’s just way past time for it to change.\u201d<\/p>\n Dawne Mitchell, chief attorney of the Legal Aid Society\u2019s Juvenile Rights Practice, said in a statement that the new plan from the mayor\u2019s office \u201cis an important and welcome step forward on reforms we have long advocated for.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Legal Aid Society will not rest until every young person has meaningful access to alternatives to detention, and those in custody are treated with dignity and held in safe, humane conditions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u2018A child needs a safe space\u2019<\/p>\n Crossroads and Horizon house teens accused of serious crimes. For about three years, some teens at the facilities have been forced to sleep in classrooms or other shared spaces, sometimes in shallow plastic tubs<\/a> with a mattress inside rather than in typical beds.<\/p>\n Freeman with the Legal Aid Society said these young people don\u2019t have their own bedroom or a safe space to store their belongings. The common areas where they sleep often don\u2019t have bathrooms, she said, so the teens sometimes have to urinate in bottles or trash cans. She also said it\u2019s difficult for them to go to class or other programming, because they spend much of the day being escorted around the building.<\/p>\n Legal Aid\u2019s young clients are often stuck in this itinerant status for months at a time, Freeman said.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aA child needs a safe space that they can retreat to,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you’re not giving them that opportunity, you’re really amping up the stress for everybody in the facility.\u201d<\/p>\n