Youth detention center

There is a long-standing connection found in research between youth who commit crimes and mental health concerns.[8] A remarkably high population of juveniles present serious mental health illness within juvenile facilities.[9] Since juvenile detention facilities operate on the foundation of rehabilitating the youth, different mental health programs are provided by facilities to help the youth rehabilitate. It is the expectation that juvenile detention centers and juvenile institutions provide mental health services to their residents.[10] The incarcerated youth population requires careful and structured intervention, which must be provided by the facilities.[10]

Many different mental health treatment strategies exist for juveniles.[11] It is the responsibility of case management to decide what type of intervention strategy works best for each youth in his or her mental health treatment plan.[11] Mental health services that can be provided to the youth include, individual counseling, group counseling, crisis counseling, family intervention, medication management, and transition planning.[12]

Education is seen by many as the cornerstone of youth rehabilitation. Many landmark court cases, such as the 1981 case of Green v. Johnson, have given way to juveniles receiving their educational rights while incarcerated.[13] Green v. Johnson (1981) ruled that incarcerated students do not have to give up their rights to an education while incarcerated.[14]

Despite research stating the need for strong educational programs in juvenile detention facilities, there does not exist a uniform standard for education in juvenile facilities as education settings in juvenile facilities greatly vary across the country.[15] The overseer of the school within the juvenile facility differs from state to state.[15] Some schools within juvenile detention facilities are decentralized, some are centralized and run by school districts, and others are overseen by a State education agency.[15]

There is a large percentage of incarcerated juveniles who are diagnosed as students with special needs.[15] Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), youths with disabilities in correctional facilities are entitled to special education and related services regardless of incarceration status.[15] The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) requires State Education Agencies to ensure that special education services are being provided at juvenile facilities.[15][16]

Being that there is a wide variety of juvenile detention and confinement facilities across the nation, the type and quality of special education services provided to the youth greatly varies.[15] There has been a history of juveniles with disabilities not receiving their mandated accommodations and modifications.[17] With the passing of IDEA in addition to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, juvenile correctional facilities have become seen as federally funded institutions and thus there prevails the mandated right to serve all students with disabilities as such institutions regardless if it is a short term or long term stay.[13]

There is a grave presence of juveniles who are classified as youth with disabilities.[16] The disabilities most prevalent in incarcerated juveniles include mental retardation, learning disabilities, and emotional disturbances.[17] Surveys and studies have found that a high number of incarcerated youth suffer from emotional disturbance disabilities as opposed to youth in general public schools.[18] Even with key court decisions and acts, it has been found that a large number of juveniles held at both detention centers and confinement facilities are not being served the special education services they should be provided by law.[19] It has been found that many juvenile detention institutions have struggling special education programs, especially for those centers that detain youth for short periods of time.[20]

Juvenile Court Schools provide public education for juveniles who are incarcerated in facilities run by county probation departments. These schools are located in juvenile halls, juvenile homes, day centers, ranches, camps, and regional youth education facilities and are operated by the county board of education. Even though court schools have the same school curriculum, they are often more strict in discipline that is more punitive than holistic. The most disadvantaged and "troubled" students are filling up schools in the juvenile justice system. These students are often further behind in credits and with more personal and structural problems than their counterparts at traditional schools. The majority of these teenagers struggle with learning disabilities, which ties with noticeable behavioral problems, and are experiencing emotional and psychological problems at home. Zero tolerance policies seem to be more strict in the juvenile justice system than in other traditional schools. In a juvenile court school, when a student violates a zero tolerance rule they automatically are prone to suspension and eventually going back to a detention center for its violation. In contrast, a student from a traditional school is more likely to get a second chance for its violation. Zero Tolerance policies are enforced in a greatly manner in juvenile court schools than in other traditional schools.

The rules at Juvenile Court Schools are strict and are based on zero tolerance policies. Zero Tolerance Policies may serve more to "push students further out of school and into the school-to-prison pipeline than to re engage them".[21] Students are being harshly punished for minor incidents that should be fixed without having to involve severe consequences. Zero tolerance policies have taken over the role of education. The definition of Zero Tolerance Policies is described in the article, A Study of Zero Tolerance Policies in Schools: A Multi-Integrated Systems Approach to Improve Outcomes for Adolescents, as “…a widespread application to minor offenses can be attributed to the "Broken Windows" theory of crime. This theory analogizes the spread of crime to a few broken windows in a building that go un-repaired and consequently attract vagrants who break more windows and soon become squatters".[22]

Stephen Hoffman in his article, "Zero Benefit: Estimating the Effect of Zero Tolerance Discipline Policies on Racial Disparities in School Discipline" states that, “...zero tolerance discipline policies are associated with poorer school climate, lower student achievement, higher dropout rates…”[23] At Juvenile Court Schools, students are expected to follow a set of rules. The rules at the Court Schools differ from those at traditional schools; they are more punitive.

There were 45,567 total juveniles in detention facilities in 2016. 32,301 juveniles were in a public facility. 13,266 were in a private facility.[28]

In 1870, Long Lane School was built on donated land in Middletown.[29] However, it became the Connecticut Juvenile Training School (CJTS) in 2003.[30] CJTS is a treatment facility dedicated to delinquent boys from age 12–17.[31] There have been numerous controversies and scandals associated with CJTS between 1998–2005.[32] In 2005, Governor Jodi Rell attempted to close the facility, but it was instead reformed in 2008 by The Department of Children & Families.[33] The new CJTS features a therapeutic model which was developed with assistance from The Boys & Girls Clubs of America.[31] The school was shut down without replacement in 2018.[34]

The Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) is the District of Columbia's head juvenile justice agency and is responsible for placing DC community youth who are in its oversight in detention, commitment, and aftercare programs.[35] DYRS's mission involves advancing the public safety and providing court-involved juveniles experiences and opportunities to better their lives and a become a better citizen and community member.[35] Part of DYRS's vision is to place the youths in the least-restrictive environment possible for each case.[35] At the foundation of the DYRS mission is its vision to provide court-involved youths and their families supportive programming to increase the lives of all involved.[35]

DYRS offers and operates a range of services and placements for their committed youth. The secure centers that DYRS operates are Youth Services Center (YSC) and New Beginnings Youth Development Center.[36] YSC is the District's secure detention center.[36] New Beginnings Youth Development Center is a secure confinement facility for the District's committed youth.[36]

YSC is operated by DYRS as the District of Columbia's secure juvenile detention center, which was opened in 2004.[37] It is an 88-bed facility for male and female detained (not committed) youth who have been accused of delinquent acts and are awaiting their court hearings.[37] YSC's meets the required needs of the youth it serves. Education services in YSC are provided by the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), which delivers a range of services to the residents.[37] The facility also provides programs and services to meet the essential mental health, emotional, physical, and social needs of the youth.[37] YSC provides a secure and humane environment and coordinates all court meetings and team meetings for its youth.[37] Above all else, YSC makes certain that the protection of the legal rights of the juveniles are being upheld.[37]

New Beginnings Youth Development Center is another secure DYRS operation.[38] The center is a 60-bed, all-male secure center for DC's most serious youth delinquents.[39] The $46 million facility[40] opened in 2009[41] in unincorporated Anne Arundel County, Maryland,[42] near Laurel. New Beginnings replaced the Oak Hill Youth Center,[40] which was located .5 miles (0.80 km) away[41] in unincorporated Anne Arundel County.[42]

The main goal of New Beginnings is to provide residents with 24-hour supervision as well as programs and services that allow for successful transitions back into the DC community.[39] The services provided include educational, recreation, medical, dental, and mental health programs.[39] DYRS created a partnership with the See Forever Foundation to provide the educational services of Maya Angelou Academy for the residents.[39] Behavioral health staff oversee the mental health programs.[39] The facility is a 9–12-month program, which is modeled after the very successful Missouri Model.[39]

Maya Angelou Academy was founded in 2007, first at Oak Hill Youth Center, and now is the education program serving DYRS committed youth at New Beginnings Youth Development Center.[43] Maya Angelou Academy is part of the Maya Angelou Charter School Network in the DC area.[43] The academy provides a safe, structured, and intensive learning environment to the youth it serves at New Beginnings Youth Development Center.[43]

PA Child Care is a detention center in Pennsylvania, USA. It was part of the Kids for cash scandal in which judges were given kickbacks in exchange for imposing harsh sentences on youth offenders so that the detention centers would get business.[44]