Facilities for detained youth may need ‘massive overhaul’
The Office of the Child Advocate released a scathing report Wednesday morning on the substandard conditions in state facilities for imprisoned and detained youth and called for an overhaul of the system.
The office found that incarcerated youths, particularly boys who have complex needs and are imprisoned in the adult correctional system, are the most likely to lose meaningful access to edu- cation, rehabilitative services and visits with family, and are more likely to to be placed in isolation. In some cases, the report said, the conditions for youth may violate state and federal law.
The report details the individual cases of incarcerated youth, including one boy who is confined for 23.5 hours a day with no access to education or adequate mental health services, and another who was restrained face-down and sprayed with a chemical agent despite his asthma diagnosis.
The year-long investigation found that minority youth “remain disproportionately confined and incarcerated in Connecticut’s state-run facilities” and that “the deeper youth go into the correctional system, the less likely they
are to receive any developmentally appropriate programming — supports necessary to help youth change their behavior and successfully discharge back to their communities without committing new offenses.”
Mickey Kramer, the associate child advocate, said in an interview Tuesday that the report’s findings prove that Connecticut needs “a massive overhaul” in the way it both evaluates and meets the needs of incarcerated youth.
“Essentially, we believe there is a moral imperative to address the current circumstances,” Kramer continued. “When we believe and know that certain things that we do to kids are harmful, we’ve got to stop doing those things.”
The report examined the state’s juvenile detention centers in Bridgeport and Hartford, which are operated by the Judicial Branch’s Court Support Services Division; the Manson Youth Institution for boys and the York Correctional Institution for girls, which are Department of Corrections’ prisons that house minors; and the former Connecticut Juvenile Training School, a locked facility for boys that was operated by the state Department of Children and Families until it closed in April 2018. For the full report, click here.
The lack of uniform standards across these facilities can place youth and facility staff at risk of harm, the report says, and may result in some cases “in violations of state and federal law and deeply concerning conditions of confinement, particularly for minors in the adult prison system.”
The advocate’s report said that for incarcerated youth, there are few — in some cases, no — “universal standards” in Connecticut law or agency practices regarding mental health services, the use of isolation or force, strategies to prevent suicide, education, or family engagement.
The investigation, which was mandated by the legislature, examined the year from July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2017, and included a review of records, observations at the facilities, and interviews with youths.
The report took each facility separately and analyzes key issues affecting the youth — including suicidal behavior and prevention, the use of restraints and isolation, the availability of rehabilitative programming, access to educational programming, access to family visits and family therapy, and the reporting and prevention of child abuse.
The investigators found the most disturbing conditions at Manson Youth Institution in Cheshire. While the prison houses boys and young men up to the age of 21, the child advocate focused on the approximately 55 boys from the ages of 15 to 17.
In its response to the advocate, which was included in the report, the Department of Correction said that it “remains committed to working with stakeholders seeking to improve outcomes and conditions of confinement for youth.”
The DOC noted, however, that its policies and practices are “consistent with best practice for adult correctional programs” and while they have made some effort to meet the needs of the youngest offenders, the agency believes “youth would be better served outside of an adult correction system.”
The agency also said that the youngest offenders often present with the most challenging behaviors and restrictive measures are used to ensure staff safety and security.
An examination of the state’s juvenile detention centers, located in Bridgeport and Hartford, found that while the Judicial Branch has instituted some “developmentally appropriate and progressive policies for youth, attention to facilities operations and compliance” with the agency’s policies “remains an urgent priority for further review.”
During the period reviewed, the Court Support Services Division reported 688 incidents of youth placed on suicide watch status and 41 occurrences where constant observation was needed to support actively suicidal youth.
The support services division also reported that, on average, 11.5 percent of incarcerated youth were physically restrained during the investigation period. The report said that while the agency’s policy calls for a “sparing use” of isolation, the child advocate found several examples of physical isolation for behavior management during the period reviewed.
The advocate found that the Support Services Division is challenged in meeting treatment needs for youth with profound mental health treatment needs while in custody and whose stays are longer than average. The agency was not able to provide the advocate with data on its rehabilitative and group programming. The report said that the division has since added this to their data management system and will be able to report on it in the future.
In its response to the advocate, included in the report, the Court Support Services Division leadership reported “confidence in its screening and short-term assessment policies and practices,” emphasizing that pretrial detention is typically short term has “significant limitations regarding mental health treatment and has not been considered a treatment environment.”
Not all of the youth living in the detention centers are there for the short-term, however. The closure of the Connecticut Juvenile Training School resulted in the transfer of its entire population into the detention centers — a population that typically requires longer incarceration and more intensive treatment.
“The Judicial Branch looks forward to working with the Office of Child Advocate to improve in the areas of the report in which the OCA has identified opportunities for improvement” said Gary Roberge, executive director of CSSD, in a statement Wednesday morning, adding that its centers are nationally accredited. “The Judicial Branch’s Juvenile Residential Services staff do an outstanding job of working with the juveniles we serve each and every day.”