Inside Out: Youth Experiences in New York's Juvenile Placement System

Over the past decade, more than 20,0001 of New York’s youth have been placed in the care and custody of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS). New York City youth make up approximately 60% of all youth placed in OCFS juvenile placement facilities. These youth have been adjudicated a juvenile delinquent by the Family Court and by definition are between the ages of 7 and 16 and have committed an act that, if committed by an adult, would be considered a crime.

Approximately half of the youth in placement had been charged with misdemeanor offenses that can range from shoplifting to marijuana possession. In addition to juvenile delinquents, juvenile offenders can also be placed in an OCFS facility. New York State’s juvenile placement system has historically been closed off to the public eye despite years of poor youth outcomes and anecdotal evidence from former youth residents who have shed light on the conditions of care and who have spoken about the negative social and emotional impact of being locked up at an early age. More recently, the challenges that face the juvenile placement system in New York have attracted much public attention due to the ever increasing operational costs amid the state’s fiscal crisis as well as research which suggests that juvenile placement does little to rehabilitate youth. OCFS’s own data indicates an 80% re-arrest rate for young men three years post-placement. But the most tragic reminder of why juvenile placement facilities must be subjected to greater and rigorous public scrutiny occurred in 2006, with the death of a young man at Tryon Boys Residential Center after he was physically restrained by staff. And more recently, a 2009 U.S. Department of Justice report found that four OCFS facilities routinely misused physical restraints and applied excessive force in addition to providing inadequate mental health treatment to youth in care.

Read the full report online at: http://action.voices.org/site/R?i=0RUwn6fxz_GXuoK8NND1xg..