The number of youth in the D.C. Jail has nearly quadrupled since last year, and most of the teenage inmates are not being rehabilitated as they would if housed in juvenile facilities, according to testimony at a D.C. Council commission hearing Monday.
Several witnesses called for reforms that they said would lower the number of juveniles in the adult jail, including ending the placement of youths in the adult jail before trial. They also called for more services for those teenagers convicted of adult charges.
In 2006 the D.C. Jail housed 12 youth under age 18 who were charged as adults. As of May 2007, that number had increased to 42.
Many of these juveniles, some as young as 15, were sent to adult jail by prosecutors and without review by a judge or court hearing, according to Michelle Tupper, a board member of the nonprofit D.C. Lawyers for Youth.
Only nine of those children received any kind of education, let alone any sort of substance abuse counseling, mental health treatment or vocation training, Tupper said. The system sets them up for failure, she said.
“The youth charged with the most serious crimes in the District and those most in need of guidance receive the least amount of services,” Tupper said. “The system sends these youth back to their communities in a significantly worse position than at the time of their arrest.”
Youth in the D.C. Jail can spend up to 23 and a half hours a day locked in their jails, spending much of their time just sleeping., according to witnesses.
D.C. Jail Director Devon Brown said the number of juvenile inmates has decreased to 32 as of Monday. He said the jail is providing the juveniles more educational and rehabilitative services than ever before.
Tupper said the increase of juveniles in the jail was not related to the Department of Youth Rehabilitative Services’ efforts to phase out group homes that house juveniles who are waiting for trial.
