Juvenile Law Center

On July 15th, 2017, the National Council for Juvenile and Family Court Judges adopted a RESOLUTION ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF HOMELESS YOUTH AND FAMILIES IN JUVENILE AND FAMILY COURTS. This is a groundbreaking resolution that explicitly acknowledges the relationship between child welfare and juvenile justice system involvement and homelessness. It commits the judiciary to take a leadership role to reduce the chances that youth will enter these systems because of homelessness or leave these systems and become homeless. This is an important step that will be a catalyst for policy and practice changes that will benefit court-involved youth as they transition to adulthood.

Yesterday, Juvenile Law Center released a new report on solitary confinement in juvenile facilities and legal strategies to end the practice nationwide. Juvenile Law Center surveyed public defenders and interviewed youth, their families, and correctional facility administrators to shed light the reality of youth solitary confinement.

More and more people agree that solitary confinement hurts kids and goes against the rehabilitative goals of the juvenile justice system. However, Juvenile Law Center’s research revealed that solitary is still too common. Almost half of youth prisons report isolating kids to control their behavior. More than two-thirds of public defenders responding to the survey reported having clients who spent time in solitary. The conditions kids face in solitary are truly appalling: no mattresses or sheets to sleep on, no showers, no eating utensils, and no mental health treatment.