Juvenile offenders denied credit for time locked up : NPR

The first time L.J. was sent to the juvenile detention center outside of Philadelphia, he’d been caught hanging out with friends in an abandoned building. After that, he went in and out of custody for minor offenses throughout his teenage years.

Detention was a challenging place to grow up.

“It’s like a little jungle,” he said. “Everybody wants to be tough. Everybody wants to fight. It’s a lot to go through.”

One particularly long stint lasted about six months before he was sent to a state facility in southern Pennsylvania for boys in the delinquency system.

But more than half of the 11 months he spent locked up didn’t count toward any kind of sentence. It was “dead time.”

In the adult system, people awaiting trial get credit for “time served,” with any months that they spend in jail awaiting trial factored into their ultimate prison sentence. Not so in the youth system, an NPR investigation found.

In about two dozen states, there’s no such thing as time credit in juvenile delinquency cases. Unlike for adults, the time kids spend in detention often doesn’t count toward any incarceration that they may face at the conclusion of their court case. This adds months to the duration that kids are confined away from their families at enormous expense to the taxpayer and to the detriment of young people, NPR found.

“It is just time that they are essentially being warehoused,” said Amy Borror, a policy strategist at the Gault Center, a national advocacy group working on juvenile justice issues. “It really is a waste. It’s a waste of their time. It’s a waste of a lot of resources that the city or state are putting into the detention facility. Time that kids spend locked up has an extraordinarily negative impact on them.”

L.J. is 23 now, but because he was underage when these events occurred, NPR agreed not to use his name. To him, the months he spent in detention without credit didn’t make any sense.

“Damn, where was I at five Christmases ago, five Thanksgivings ago?” he said. “Time where I should have been with my family and out with my friends for birthdays and stuff like that, I’m still here because of time that they didn’t count.”

No such thing as time credit in a “rehabilitative” system

The juvenile justice system is, in theory, markedly different from the adult one. When a minor breaks the law, it’s a delinquent act, not a crime. Youth aren’t found guilty; they’re adjudicated delinquent. They aren’t sentenced to prison; they’re committed to the state’s custody or to a secure facility, often for an indeterminate period while they receive services meant to help turn their life around. If the adult system is meant to be punitive, the juvenile system is supposed to be rehabilitative.

“The juvenile legal system is quasi-criminal, quasi-civil. It’s intentionally separate from the criminal system, which is, at least in theory, a good thing. “We need to remember that a young person was assessed by a justice agency as being a public safety risk and deemed that we need to hold you there because of the risk that you pose to the community safety,” said Sam Abed, the director of the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services in Washington, D.C.

Detention isn’t without a purpose. Often, when a kid is detained pre-adjudication, it’s because the court has decided they are a risk to the community. But policy experts and juvenile defense attorneys argue that this has led to disparities in how young people are treated in different states, with some kids languishing in detention without access to services or proper education.

“We don’t want to be criminalizing children,” said Borror. However, the lack of credit for time spent in detention in many states creates a lopsided application of fundamental rights, with most states not giving kids credit for that time. This lack of credit can result in kids spending more time in detention than necessary, without it having much of an impact on their rehabilitation.

The focus of the juvenile justice system is on rehabilitation, not punishment, with the aim of providing young people with the services and support they need to reduce the risk of re-offending and become productive citizens. In many states, minors are not sentenced to a set amount of time but are in custody until they are deemed ready for release, typically by completing a program.

Overall, the lack of credit for time served in detention in many states is seen as incompatible with a system focused on rehabilitation, as the goal is for young people to progress through programs to earn their release. Detention centers are not designed to provide the necessary programs for rehabilitation, and instead serve as temporary stops while a young person’s case is in court or while they wait to be transferred elsewhere. “We do not bear responsibility for the treatment and rehabilitation.” School and non-urgent medical care were inaccessible due to insufficient staff. According to data from the Office of Independent Juvenile Justice Facilities Oversight, the juvenile justice agency failed to meet its target in more than half of cases in 2023. About one in five youth were held at the detention center for more than three months after their court case had finished, with six being held for more than four months. Despite efforts by the team at DYRS to find the best program for each young person’s needs, delays in assessments and finding suitable facilities contribute to the prolonged wait times.

While there has been some improvement in reducing the average length of time youth wait for placement, the problem persists. Some states, like Utah and Maryland, have implemented laws and programs to address the issue of youth languishing in detention centers after their court cases have concluded. However, the lack of coordination between facilities and programs remains a challenge for DYRS.

Extended stays in detention have harmful effects on young people, preventing them from making progress and participating in positive, pro-social activities. The impact on their rehabilitation and development is significant, as highlighted by advocates like Eduardo Ferrer. The issue of prolonged detention raises questions about due process rights for young people in the juvenile justice system, with concerns about fairness and access to rehabilitative services.

Efforts to address the challenges of prolonged detention are ongoing, with legal actions and advocacy highlighting the need for reforms in the juvenile justice system. The debate over constitutional rights, time credit, and access to services continues to be a complex and contentious issue for stakeholders in the juvenile justice system. It is cruel and unjust to confine a young individual, potentially as young as 12 years old, in a cell for months without any services or a clear plan for their future.

The issue of time credit in relation to juvenile detention is being examined by Parker’s committee, with a focus on potential legal changes. While efforts have been made to expedite the transition of kids from detention to rehabilitation programs, any time spent in detention is still considered wasted time.

Various states, like Massachusetts, have attempted to address this issue by proposing laws that would factor in time spent in pre-trial detention when determining the length of confinement. However, these efforts have faced challenges, with public defenders often having to advocate for proper application of the law.

In Ohio, where sentences are indeterminate, the Department of Youth Services has the authority to keep juveniles incarcerated until they reach the age of 21, rendering time credit laws ineffective for certain individuals. Judges also sometimes miscalculate time credit, leading to discrepancies in the length of sentences.

Ambrose, a former director of juvenile justice agencies, emphasizes that keeping youth in detention without proper services or credit goes against the principles of fairness and justice. Research indicates that many youth naturally outgrow delinquent behavior, despite the lack of rehabilitative measures in detention.

Individuals like McDaniels, Torres, and L.J. are examples of youth who are working towards positive goals despite their detention experiences. McDaniels plans to establish a community center, Torres is pursuing a college degree, and L.J. is focused on a career in construction.

The overarching sentiment is that detention should not be seen as a punitive measure without the potential for growth and rehabilitation. It is crucial to reevaluate the current system to ensure that youth are provided with the necessary support and opportunities for a better future. following sentence:

The cat sat lazily in the sun.

The lazy cat lounged in the sunlight.