Reimagining Justice: Ending Solitary Confinement for Youth

In America’s justice system, the use of solitary confinement for youth is beyond cruel and unusual.  According to a recent report by Unlock the Box, a national advocacy campaign, statistics are grim for 25,000 youth in juvenile facilities in the U.S. There is a staggering 30% of incarcerated youths reported being locked in solitary confinement.  Simply put, they were physically and socially isolated for 22 to 24 hours for one day or more while serving time for youthful offenses.  As of 2021, 5,400 young people under 18 were primarily held in adult state prisons. Each of these youths was held in solitary as protection from incarcerated adults. Whether in adult prisons or in juvenile detention centers, children are left isolated in cells as small as eight by eight feet, most without a window to the outside world.  A cage is no place to deliver rehabilitative services to youthful offenders. Is this what we want for our children? 

The confinement of young individuals in isolation is a stark reminder of the system's failure to adequately address the unique needs of kids who break the law. Within medical, psychiatric, and correctional communities, it is understood that isolation inflicts severe specific harm on children because of their immaturity, brain development, and lack of effective coping mechanisms. Besides its severe psychological effects, solitary confinement disrupts educational and social development. 

The  recent successful collaborative advocacy efforts leading to the removal of youths placed at the Louisiana State Prison, also known as Angola, is important to acknowledge. A federal judge ordered their removal, saying the youths' placement in the facility, which included solitary confinement and a lack of educational and mental health services, violated their constitutional rights.

A Proven Better Approach for Youthful Offenders 

I lead Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. (YAP), founded in 1975 as a community alternative to youth incarceration when Pennsylvania declared it would remove 400 juveniles from its Camp Hill Prison.  Since then, YAP has grown to operate programs in 35 states and Washington, D.C., serving more than 17,500 individuals annually in over 150+ urban, suburban, and rural communities.  Our decades of service include working with many young people whose histories have serious offenses, multiple arrests, and lengthy out-of-home placements. Research conducted by John Jay College of Criminal Justice found that 86% of YAP’s youth justice participants remain arrest-free.  In addition, 6 to 12 months after completing our program, nearly 90% of these youth still lived in their communities. YAP connects program participants with individualized economic, emotional, and educational tools. We hire and train neighborhood-based advocates and behavioral health staff to empower youth and their families to see and nurture their strengths.  

At YAP, we’ve learned firsthand that old, broken systems can be rebuilt and reformed. Unproductive, harmful practices, locking kids up and putting them in solitary confinement must end. There is a role for everyone who desires to see an end to this type of horrendous confinement. Organizations can advocate for laws and regulations that terminate the use of solitary confinement and promote community-based rehabilitative alternatives. Also, organizations can use YAP’s direct service experience to inform policymakers and the public about other options for youth rehabilitation. YAP supports an approach of relentlessly engaging young people and their families who have been impacted by solitary confinement. Working with professionals who will guide families toward advocacy initiatives, legal assistance, mentoring, and other forms of wraparound support is important. Using “healing-centered engagement,” as researcher and educator Shawn Ginwright, Ph.D. refers to it, should be a vital part of this strategy to restore and heal young people.  

 Family and Community Solutions for Youth Rehabilitation 

·       Community Integration. Youth rehabilitation programs that involve families, mentors, community-based organizations, and religious institutions foster positive relationships, reinforce accountability, and provide a stronger foundation for future success. 

·       Restorative Justice Principles. Practices that promote accountability, healing, and meaningful interactions between victims and offenders go a long way. Empathy and personal growth will develop while contributing to a sense of responsibility for one's actions. 

·       Keeping Youth Safely at Home. Underlying factors and root causes of problems in a youth’s life should be approached in their community with unconditional care.  A paid mentor, coach or "credible messenger” who can provide culturally responsive, 24/7 crisis support for young people creates a safe environment.  

 Working Together to Protect Youth Offenders 

I repeat, the time for ending solitary confinement is now. We cannot afford to continue down a path that perpetuates cycles of trauma and incarceration.   Keeping our youth safe at home with the appropriate unconditional crisis support puts society on the way to breaking away from a default confinement system.  We must commit to creating a justice system that values the potential for growth, transformation, and redemption in every young person. As the late cultural justice advocate James Baldwin often said, “For these are all our children, we will all profit by or pay for what they become.”