Juvenile detention populations low: Young black teen lies on bed with legs propped up on wall on cot in empty room with grey cement floor and white walls

Tennessee lawmakers want more oversight of juvenile detention. The Department of Children’s Services is pushing back.

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The commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services publicly said this month that the agency was working with lawmakers to address oversight gaps at juvenile detention facilities across the state. But behind the scenes, the department is working to water down a bill that would do just that, according to one of the bill’s sponsors and others working on the legislation.

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.

Hundreds of seclusions were “voluntary.” Some kids don’t see it that way.

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To hear the state of Tennessee tell it, Knoxville’s Richard L. Bean Juvenile Service Center has shown “significant and consistent improvement.” It no longer illegally locks kids up alone in cells, as an investigation by ProPublica and WPLN exposed last month.
But a closer look at the facility’s most recent inspection by the state Department of Children’s Services tells a different story. Instead of secluding children against their will, the facility claims that kids are voluntarily agreeing to be locked up alone.

Juveniles in Angola Prison: Close-up of peaked, beige-siding roof over a drive-through entrance, with black lettering, "Louisiana State Penitentiary"

Judge rules Louisiana must remove youth from Angola

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A federal judge Friday ordered Louisiana prison officials to stop housing youth offenders in the former death row of Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola and to relocate them within one week, after finding that conditions at Angola constitute cruel and unusual punishment and violate the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

hands in handcuffs against black background

40 years ago, the US started sending more and more kids to prison without hope of release, but today, it’s far more rare – what happened?

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At the heart of this issue is whether it is appropriate to sentence children to die in prison, with no chance of being considered for release. Half a century ago, offenders in the U.S. of any age were rarely sentenced to life without parole, and it was not until 1978 that states began trying youths as adults. Between 1985 and 2001, however, youths convicted of murder were actually more likely to enter prison with a life sentence than adults convicted of the same crime.

Alternatives to prison: Group of multicultural arms an hands forming circle reaching to each other with multi-colored puzzle pieces

To end the age of incarceration, three communities pioneer a developmental approach

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People ages 18 to 25 are over-represented at every stage of the criminal legal system and have the highest recidivism rate of any age group. It is obvious that we are responding badly to the developmental needs of these emerging adults — and “we” includes everything from schools and health care to law enforcement, judicial and correctional systems.

Sexual assault juvenile detention: Long, empty hallwat with cement fllor and vlorescent lighting, painted beige, lined with closed doors

Federal bureau releases new data on reported sexual assault and harassment in juvenile facilities

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“These incidents could have had multiple victims or multiple perpetrators, which could result in more persons involved than the total number of incidents,” wrote researchers, who collect that data to meet mandates of the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act.

Most of the victims were boys, who, as a group, outnumber incarcerated girls, analysts found.