Federal Lawsuits and Audit Highlight Poor Conditions and Treatment
A federal lawsuit has been filed, claiming that two teenage girls were subjected to weeks of isolation in unsanitary conditions at a youth facility in Adair County in 2022. This comes after a previous incident in the same year, where a riot broke out due to a juvenile assaulting a staff member. In addition, another federal lawsuit has been filed this week by a woman who alleges that she spent a month in isolation at the Adair facility when she was 17 years old.
The concern surrounding the Department of Juvenile Justice in Kentucky has been growing over the past several years. State lawmakers requested an auditor’s review in the previous year to assess the situation. State Auditor Mike Ball commented on the matter, stating that the department has suffered from disorganization, leading to unacceptable treatment of Kentucky’s youth. Ball specifically pointed out the lack of funding for new female-only juvenile justice centers in a recent budget proposal by Democratic Governor Andy Beshear’s administration.
The auditor’s report, referred to as a “performance assessment,” revealed that the Juvenile Justice department’s practices for isolation were inconsistently defined, applied, and in conflict with nationally-recognized best practices. The report also highlighted the department’s poorly deployed and defined use of force policies. Furthermore, it stated that concerns raised in a 2017 audit, including overuse of solitary confinement, low medical care standards, and the poor quality of the policy manual, were largely left unaddressed.
Notably, a new state policy was implemented last year for juvenile offenders. This policy placed male juveniles charged with serious crimes in a high-security facility instead of the previous regional system based on their place of residence.
