Juvenile solitary: Close-up of legs and hands-in-lap of black person wearing over-sized navy pants sitting on edge of built-in cement bench with metal toilet in background.

Despite outcry over seclusion at juvenile detention centers, Tennessee lawmakers fail to pass oversight bill

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Children in Rutherford County,  have been arrested and jailed at rates unparalleled in the state. This story reports on an investigation of why that is happening — and other ways the justice system there singles out children. A bill that would strengthen oversight of Tennessee’s juvenile detention centers has failed, despite a concerted push for reform after multiple county-run facilities were found to be locking children alone in cells.

Juvenile Justicee Reform: Black man with short black hair and beard wearing white t-shirt with green grass and trees in the background

In historic shift, far fewer teens face adult US courts

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A significant shift away from the "get tough" philosophy of the 1980s and '90s for youth offenders, has resulted in far fewer children being prosecuted in U.S. adult courts. That has meant second chances for untold thousands of youths.

COVID-19 in juvenile facilities: worker with packaged masks for distribution

As COVID-19 lingers, some juveniles facilities rate better than others in health safety

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The nation’s 1,772 juvenile facilities face many challenges caused by the pandemic, according to those working inside and monitoring them from the outside. So far, juvenile facilities — 789 of the 1,510 nationwide are detention centers or long-term secure facilities, the remainder are group homes, residential treatment centers, wilderness camps and such — and the organizations monitoring them have reported no young people dying from the disease.

connection: Side view of a young man comforting a sad young woman in a train station

Opinion: How Human Connections Can Save Our Youth

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There are thousands of years’ worth of documented history and stories of our connection with each other. There are millions of love stories and historical accounts of all kinds of relationships interpreted in books, movies and even sketched onto buildings and structures that speaks to our powerful bond. 

Could this be the answer to the age-old question — what is the purpose of life? Science tells us it is. We are programmed to connect, not to self-destruct. If this is so, then why is it that we are suffering through a suicide crisis? 

A crisis is when a non-common negative occurrence increases in trend and frequency.

solitary: Man in car marked NJJJC looks out the open front left window.

COVID-19 Isolation for Youths Raises Concerns in New Jersey

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On July 11, 2019, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy used the power of his pen to seize a unique political opportunity: putting his signature on one of the most ground-breaking laws in the country limiting the use of solitary confinement for juveniles.

Arkansas Kids in Isolation: Locked Away in Alexander

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In April, a 15-year-old boy housed at the Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center spent the entire day alone in a small cell. Michael (the names of juveniles in this story have been changed to protect their anonymity) was put in a hold by a guard and taken out of his classroom at the facility's school. As he repeatedly said, "I am not resisting" and "no aggression" — a phrase used at AJATC to indicate compliance — Michael was brought across campus to Building 19.

Groups Urge Federal, State Legislation to End Solitary Confinement of Young People

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Recently, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Human Rights Watch published  a new report titled “Growing Up Locked Down: Youth in Solitary Confinement in Jails and Prisons Across the United States.”

The publication involved interviews with more than 125 juveniles in 19 states, alongside detention officials in 10 states.

New Rules: Isolation, Handcuffs, Hogties

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Schools cannot put children in seclusion rooms as a form of punishment anymore, and must limit the use of physical and chemical restraints. The State Board of Education approved new rules Thursday for handcuffing children, controlling them with prone restraint tactics, and giving them prescription drugs to control their behavior. These measures are now limited to situations where students are an immediate danger to themselves or others, or when calming techniques don’t work. Parents of 13-year old Jonathon King of Gainesville pushed for changes after their son hanged himself in a seclusion room in 2004. Jonathan was a student in the Alpine Program, a public school in Gainesville, Ga.