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International norms prohibit subjecting children to closed or solitary confinement or any other punishment that may compromise the physical or mental health of the juvenile concerned.533 New York state regulations permit isolated confinement, known as room confinement or lock-up, only when a child constitutes serious and evident danger to himself or others.534
The facilities monthly reports record only the relatively few instances in which room confinement is imposed because a girl poses a danger to herself or others.535 In these official records, Tryon reported no use of isolated confinement for the period between January 2004 and January 2006.536 For the same period, Lansing reported an average of 2 instances per month of room confinement for periods of less than an hour. Isolation for more than an hour occurred an average of 6 times per month, ranging between 0 and 19 times per month.537
Yet girls in both facilities described incidents of being confined to their rooms for long periods of time for seemingly arbitrarily reasons or because staff found it more convenient.538 Girls complained most of isolation in Tryon Reception Center, where all girls to be confined in an OCFS secure or non-secure facility are initially sent for two weeks for evaluation.539 Although OCFS literature states that girls receive thorough assessments e.g. medical, educational, psychological and mental health in addition to formal orientation during the two week period,540 girls held at Tryon Reception Center complained that little time was spent assessing their needs or providing them with services; rather, the bulk of their time was spent sitting alone in their cells. They reported that during the day they were not allowed to lie down on their bunks.
Such isolation also occurs in the regular housing units of Tryon and Lansing. Interviews and grievance logs suggest that girls view doing chores as a privilege, because it represents an opportunity to leave their rooms.541 Girls complain that staff sometimes deny them the opportunity to do their chores, or start girls on their chores late, resulting in more time spent by the girls in their rooms.
Some girls confined at Tryon complained of confinement in Tryons mudroom. Felicia H., 17 at the time of her incarceration, described the mudroom, which exists in each unit at Tryon:
You come in the unit, and to the right theres a big area with rooms off it, and to the left thats where we live, and in the middle theres a hallway with a booth in the middle, toward the outside. Thats the mudroom. The mudroom is a regular hallway, its small, when you get in trouble, they say, Go to the mudroom, stand with your hands behind your back. You have to stand still and look straight forward.542
Asked how long she was made to stand in the mudroom, Felicia H. replied:
Three hours or so. I was mad about everything, I was always mad. Sometimes staff is in there with you, sometimes not. If theyre confronting you, theres staff. Or theyll just come in and out to check on you.543
Alicia K. described her experience in the mudroom:
Its a little hall between the two sides of the unit. There is nothing in there. You stand, you cant sit. Sometimes a staff member is there, sometimes not. Youre there an hour or longer sometimes. The mudroom usually leads to a restraint. You have to assume a position. Thats stand up with your hands behind your back in the shape of a diamond. If you move, its an automatic restraint. They kind of egg you on, they yell at you. If you move one inch, Im going to drop you.544
Another girl held at Tryon complained that a staff person had spit in her face and told her to shut up when she was being held in the mudroom.545 Such examples suggest that girls are made to stand alone in the mudroom as a form of punishment, although the staff members involved may view these incidents differently. As described elsewhere in this report, however, HRW/ACLU were not permitted access to the facilities nor to members of the line staff, and therefore could not obtain the staffs perspectives or other information to test the validity of these accounts.
A subtler form of isolation takes the form of restrictions on conversation among girls. Some girls complained that although not locked in their rooms, they were kept away from their peers.546 Denise J. said that if a girl was caught talking to other girls at Tryon Reception Center, she was punished.547 Selena B., who had been held at Lansing, said that Christmas was fun in the facility because we got to associate with each other.548
Social isolation can be expected to be especially damaging to girls because research reveals that connection with others is essential to their development.549 In addition, when persons with any propensity to self-harm are placed in isolated confinement, they demonstrate a very high incidence of anxiety and are much more likely to harm themselves.550 The following comments of the girls themselves, drawn from facilities grievance logs in which staff members summarize girls complaints, suggest that isolation and prolonged lack of stimulation negatively impact girls mental health. One grievance cites having to stay in their rooms all the time. It affects her because she thinks about cutting herself.551 Another complains that, she is staying in her room for long periods of time and she begins to think about what her stepfather did to her.552 Current understanding of the importance of a relationship based model of juvenile programming is contradicted by the practices of the Lansing and Tryon facilities.
In addition, international standards require that incarcerated juveniles be provided with beneficial activities,553 yet girls describe being subjected to lengthy periods of idleness at the facilities. Grievance log entries show complaints that girls are, for example, sitting there and doing nothing,554 sitting around doing nothing-wants something to do,555 and tired of being bored.556
The problem of idleness in the Lansing facility appear to be most severe in the disciplinary C-Unit, which was created to contain the most problematic girls. The threat of confinement in the C-Unit is also used to curb misbehavior by girls in other units. The girls held in the C-Unit have very little to do, must attend school in the unit, and are never allowed to attend assemblies or other facilities events.557
Its very boring. The kids dont have structured things to do for a great deal of their day. Thats why the kids go crazy, get into fights. Theres isnt enough to do. There arent enough art supplies. They spend an inordinate amount of time indoors.558
A number of factors converge to cut off girls incarcerated in New York State from the outside world. The remote location of the Lansing and Tryon facilities is a major factor effectively weakening or severing ties between girls and their families and communities. The sheer distance between the facilities and girls homes is exacerbated by restrictions on contact and further yet by staff interference with girls communications. Moreover, the attorneys who represent children during delinquency proceedings essentially cease to do so when children are sent to OCFS facilities, and are not even routinely informed as to which facility their client enters. The combination of these factors, along with the failure of grievance mechanisms and the absence of oversight, hide conditions within the facilities from the public eye.
Under international law, children are entitled to legal representation during delinquency proceedings as well as in post-adjudication proceedings, at the very least to appeal the incarceration decision itself.559 Likewise, under U.S. law, children are entitled to legal representation during delinquency proceedings, 560and professional standards require post-disposition representation to file appeals, conduct regular reviews of how the youth is faring, ensure receipt of services, and assess the continued appropriateness of placement, as well as address conditions of confinement.561
Children in New York receive little post-disposition representation. In New York State, about half of the children charged with offenses are represented by the Legal Aid Society or other institutional legal services providers and the other half are represented by state-funded, or 18-B attorneys.562 In New York City, between 65 and 70 percent of children charged with juvenile delinquency are represented by Legal Aid.563 Factors such as the courts and attorneys overburdened caseloads and lack of resources contribute to a dilution of the quality of representation and delays in proceedings, and can make post-adjudication follow-up with youth impossible.564
Counsel is available for appeals of individual cases, but defense counsel are not funded to do follow-up representation concerning conditions of confinement once children are remanded to OCFS custody. Not surprisingly, the girls interviewed by HRW/ACLU reported not knowing who their lawyer was, having only seen their lawyer briefly in court, not being contacted by their lawyer after their case was adjudicated, and not attempting to contact their lawyer after being taken to the facility. Selena B., who was 12 years old when she was placed in OCFS custody, said, I was supposed to appeal, I had a yellow slip to appeal, but I lost it in court.565Even those children who maintain contact with their attorneys once incarcerated are sometimes blocked from contacting their attorneys or from communicating with them in private. One Lansing resident filed a grievance stating that she received no help calling her lawyer.566 Improved attorney contact would provide a means for incarcerated girls to communicate their concerns to the outside world, and the absence of this outlet makes it less likely that problematic facilities conditions will be addressed.
The geographical isolation of New Yorks girls facilities poses an enormous barrier to girls exercise of their right to family contact. Although the majority of children held at the Lansing and Tryon facilities come from New York City, both facilities are located in upstate New York. The Tryon facility is about 190 miles away from New York City. The Lansing facility is about 230 miles away. These long distances severely limit incarcerated girls access to their families.
Often, family members do not have access to a car, or must rely on other relatives for transportation, or may have difficulty finding their way to the facilities even if they are able to find secure transport. The facilities offer no bus or other transportation services to families. In New York State, the percentage of children living in families without a car, 22 percent, is much higher than the national average of 6 percent.567 In New York City, where many of the families of incarcerated children reside, over half of households have no car available to them.568 Thus, despite the availability of weekend visiting hours, the location of the facilities and the failure of authorities to help families bridge the transportation gap denies children family visits. Janine Y. described her experience at Tryon Reception and at an upstate non-secure facility:
They lock us up so far from home. How are our parents supposed to come see us? Theyre not so fortunate to be able to go all the way upstate. My family never came. It was too far. And my aunt had a little baby.569
Restrictions on visitation may also interrupt girls access to family. Family members may only visit on Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00pm to 4:00pm, a major barrier for family members who must work on weekends.570 According to agency regulations, children have the right to receive any and all visitors during visiting hours, although facilities may act to exclude visitors unaccompanied by the childs parents, guardian, or other suitable person.571 The facilities themselves interpret these guidelines narrowly: According to facilities staff at Tryon, only relatives over the age of twenty-one who are on a list of approved visitors are allowed to visit the residents and, in practice, it sometimes takes months for residents to add visitors to the list.572 Tryons grievance logs contain complaints by girls that an aunt and uncle, and the father of a girls child, were excluded from making personal visits.573 One girl confined at Tryon complained that she was not allowed to see all of her family and [w]ants to know who can really determine who immediate family is. Wants to be able to see ALL of her family.574
The distance between the facilities and New York City not only affects families ability to visit their children, but also impedes many outside service providers who would otherwise be available to work with girls incarcerated at Lansing and Tryon. According to a New York City service provider assisting girls exposed to commercial sexual exploitation, her group rarely makes contact with girls from Lansing or Tryon because the sheer distance to the facilities makes conducting outreach there impracticable. 575
Girls, moreover, experience geographical isolation from their families at an early and determinative phase of their incarceration. During the two week evaluation period prior to their final placement, girls are held at Tryon Reception Center, which is physically as well as administratively part of the Tryon complex. Boys, on the other hand, spend their two week evaluation period at the Pyramid Reception Center, located in the Bronx, in New York City. Thus boys families can more easily visit their child during a frightening and isolating period of initial incarceration. Although OCFS literature describes [f]amily involvement as a key element in the evaluation process,576 such involvement may, as a practical matter, be impossible for the families of girls.
The U.S.s international human rights obligations recognize the right to respect for the family, a duty which continues despite a childs incarceration.577 International standards also recognize that each child the right to maintain contact with his or her family through correspondence and visits, save in exceptional circumstances . . . .578 Specifically, incarcerated children have the right to receive regular and frequent visits, in principle once a week from family members.579 In addition, experts in girls development recognize the importance of promoting and sustaining family and other relationships to girls psychological health.580
Under international standards, children deprived of their liberty have the right to communicate in writing or by telephone regularly with persons of their choice, and have the right to receive correspondence.581 Girls held at Lansing and Tryon are allowed some access to the telephone. They are allowed to receive a certain number of calls per week, and may make one or two collect calls per week from a pay phone. Sometimes, girls are allowed to make a free call from a staff office. Calls are limited to ten minutes each, and must be made within a window of time during the day. The grievance logs of both Lansing and Tryon contain many complaints about staff interference with telephone calls in the form of denying calls,582 cutting calls short,583 and failures by staff to help girls receive calls.584 One girl reported not being able to contact her family during the two weeks she was held at Tryon Reception.585In addition, girls reported that the line is often busy when their families call,586 and that incoming calls are otherwise interfered with.587
Girls incarcerated at Tryon and Lansing are allowed to send and receive letters. To send letters, they buy stamps with money sent to them by relatives or from an account maintained by the state into which $1.25 is deposited per week for postage and commissary.588 As with telephone calls, girls have lodged many complaints about interference with their ability to communicate with the outside world by mail. Typically, girls complain that staff fail to take out outgoing mail,589 or do so only infrequently,590 withhold incoming mail,591 deny girls paper on which to write,592 and read outgoing or incoming mail.593 A girl held in room confinement was not allowed to write a letter to her mother.594 Ebony V. said:
They dont want you to keep your relationship with your parents. They limit your calls and your mail. Your mail gets confiscated. My aunty wrote me a letter and it got confiscated, because she wrote aunty on the envelope and not her real name.595
Sample letter from a girl incarcerated in the Lansing facility
Identifying information has been redacted to protect the authors privacy.
There is a small computer lab in the library at Tryon which does not allow access to the internet. Girls held at Tryon are allowed to check one book out of the library at a time but report that the books in the library are old and do not interest them.596 A few incarcerated girls complain that they are not given enough access to books,597 or are discouraged from reading.598 Asked whether Tryon Reception Center has a library, Janine Y. replied, No, just a book shelf with a couple of books on it.599
International standards call for every juvenile facility to provide access to a library that is adequately stocked with both instructional and recreational books and periodicals suitable for the juveniles, who should be encouraged and enabled to make full use of it.600 In addition, incarcerated children have the right to access publications and broadcasts to keep themselves informed of goings on in the outside world.601
September 2006
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