aecf-NoPlaceForKidsFullReport-2011

equired services (education, health care, andmental health treatment), fire safety and otherenvironmental safety issues, or lack of requiredaccess to mail and to attorneys.*improved education or mental health services,and more. And meaningful improvements havebeen achieved in many jurisdictions. However,the map does show how frequently problematicconditions have arisen in juvenile facilitiesthroughout the nation in recent decades.In many states, including several where therehas not been successful litigation, media reportsMoreover, the fact that so many statesor investigations undertakenhave experienced these problems sinceby advocacy organ izations or That so many states2000 suggests that few lessons havegovernment watchdog agencieshave experienced been learned from past outbreaks ofhave also documented systemicthese problems maltreatment, or that large juvenileabuses in youth correctionscorrections facilities are, by their veryfacilities. For instance, a 1998 since 2000 suggestsnature, exceedingly difficult to operatein a consistently safe and humaneseries in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazetterevealed violentthat few lessonshave been learned fashion.and deplorable conditions instate youth facilities. 7 In Connecticutin 2002, audit reportsfrom past maltreatment,or thatMore specifically, America’s youthcorrections institutions suffer from thereleased jointly by the state’sfollowing safety and abuse problems:large juvenileChild Advocate and AttorneynGeneral’s offices revealed excessiveuse of force and restraint ties are exceedinglycorrec tions facili­Widespread physical abuse and excessiveuse of force by facility staff. A March2008 Associated Press story foundand other problems at the state’sdifficult to operate that 13,000 claims of abuse had beentraining school, 8 as well as staffsanctionedviolence and other in a consistently reported from 2004 through 2007 instate-run juvenile facilities nationwide.maltreatment in a second statefundedfacility. 9 In North Caro-safe and humaneOf these, 1,343 instances of abuse hadfashion. been officially confirmed by authorities.Countless more claims hadlina, a nine-month newspaperseries about abuses in one youthnever been investigated properly, or never filedfacility in 2003 prompted a major investigationby youth due to lack of functioning grievanceby the state auditor that detailed problematic andsystems and/or fear of retribution.often abusive conditions in facilities throughoutthe state.n An epidemic of sexual abuse. In 2010, thefederal Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) releasedThe map on page 7 is not meant to imply thatthe first-ever national study on sexual abuse indangerous or abusive conditions persist in theyouth corrections facilities. For the study, BJSstates identified. In most cases, revelations ofsurveyed a representative sample of the 26,650widespread maltreatment have led to courtorderedor state-sponsored reforms—increasedyouth confined in large juvenile facilities nationwideand found that 12 percent of them—morestaffing, new policies on isolation and restraint,than 3,000 young people—had been victimized*In recent years, the pace of private class-action litigation over conditions of confinement has slowed considerably. Passed in 1995,the Prison Litigation Reform Act placed difficult new restrictions on private lawsuits over facility conditions. Then in 2003, afederal court ruling further limited the compensation available to attorneys in class-action lawsuits—even in some cases whereconditions are found to be problematic. Absent these developments, the number of successful lawsuits would likely be higher.6