URGENT: CTJJA Calls for State to Reduce Detained Youth Population During COVID-19
We invite Connecticut-based organizations & individuals to sign our open letter urging State leaders to protect youth during the COVID-19 crisis ➔
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New Haven, CT (March 19, 2020) – The Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance (CTJJA) today released a letter calling on top state officials to publicly share their emergency plan for addressing COVID-19 in the juvenile justice system. The Bridgeport-based youth advocacy organization urges that the only way to protect youth during the COVID-19 crisis is to release the presently detained or incarcerated and to prevent and reduce additional arrests and detainment of Connecticut's youth.
CTJJA has released this letter as part of a national effort led by the Youth First Initiative to ensure incarcerated youth throughout the country are released from their respective facilities.
"We are not our best selves when we're scared, and right now youth and employees in these facilities are facing legitimate fears about receiving the appropriate supports to avoid exposure to COVID-19," said Abby Anderson, CTJJA Executive Director. "We know coronavirus spreads more quickly when people are in close proximity to each other. This makes detention centers, prisons, and jails ideal places for the virus to spread rapidly, and puts youth who are in these facilities, many of whom are there pre-trial, at a higher risk of being exposed. As our state and cities work to implement measures to address the full impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, we want to ensure our state's most vulnerable youth are not left behind."
While working to coordinate the release of Connecticut's incarcerated youth, CTJJA urges state leaders to quickly and strategically develop plans that ensure each young person is able to transition back to their respective homes or other safe environments where their needs can be met.
As of Wednesday, March 18, 2020, the Court Support Services Division of the Connecticut Judicial Branch reported that 52 children are being held in detention and 24 children incarcerated within the REGIONS secure units of juvenile detention. The Department of Corrections reported that there were 49 children under 18 incarcerated in their facilities. 47 boys in Manson Youth Institution and 2 girls at York Correctional Institution. The majority of the boys in MYI are there pre-trial and have not been sentenced. With only 125 children to support in these systems, CTJJA maintains that a safe, strategic and immediate release of these youth is an easy measure to take to save lives.
"These are unprecedented times and right now, more than ever, we need to work with directly impacted communities to identify solutions that work best for them to ensure their safety and the safety of the community-at-large," said Iliana Pujols, CTJJA Director of Community Connections. "As officials work to fight the COVID-19 outbreak, it's clear that we have to collaborate to prioritize the best interests of each individual by getting incarcerated youth out of these facilities and into stable and safe placements as quickly and strategically as possible."
The letter, addressed to Governor Ned Lamont, Chief Administrative Judge Patrick L. Carroll III, and Department of Correction Commissioner Rolland Cook, recommended the elimination of any form of detention or incarceration for youth by the Judicial Branch or Department of Corrections unless a determination is made that an individual youth is a substantial and immediate safety risk to others.
In addition, the letter outlined recommendations for youth who are awaiting release; to create transitional plans for youth released from custody; for youth on probation; that no child should be arrested for normal adolescent misbehavior.
The Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance joins ACLU-CT, Office of the Child Advocate, Center for Children’s Advocacy, AFCAMP, RYASAP, Connecticut Voices for Children, True Colors, Stop Solitary CT, Connecticut Youth Services Association, and the Katal Center for Health, Equity and Justice in making these recommendations.
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About the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance: The Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance is a youth/adult partnership working to end the criminalization of youth. The Alliance works to disrupt and dismantle the pathways that funnel children and youth into the juvenile justice system by using organizing, advocacy, and policy tools to protect the rights, futures, and well-being of potentially, currently, and formerly incarcerated youth, while also ensuring youth who are detained, incarcerated, and involved in the courts and legal systems receive safe, fair, and dignified treatment.