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New York Finds Extreme Crisis in Youth Prisons: problems are so acute that the state agency overseeing the prisons has asked New York?s Family Court judges not to send youths to any of them unless they are a significant risk to public safety

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

New York Finds Extreme Crisis in Youth Prisons By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE Published: December 13, 2009 NY Times ALBANY ? New York?s system of juvenile prisons is broken, with young people battling mental illness or addiction held alongside violent offenders in abysmal facilities where they receive little counseling, can be physically abused and rarely get even a basic education, according to a report by a state panel. The problems are so acute that the state agency overseeing the prisons has asked New York?s Family Court judges not to send youths to any of them unless they are a significant risk to public safety, recommending alternatives, like therapeutic foster care. ?New York State?s current approach fails the young people who are drawn into the system, the public whose safety it is intended to protect, and the principles of good governance that demand effective use of scarce state resources,? said the confidential draft report, which was obtained by The New York Times...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on December 14, 2009 (boomark / email).