Congregate Care, Collective Trauma
Amanda Simmons, Esq.
Annette Smith, Esq.
Chelsea Maldonado
Panelists
Congregate Care, Collective Trauma
Amanda Simmons, Esq.
Annette Smith, Esq.
Chelsea Maldonado
Amanda Simmons is an attorney and the founder of Ambika Law, PC, a firm dedicated to issues around institutional child abuse and children’s rights. Amanda is also active in policy and legislative reform, and has worked closely with numerous survivor groups, legislators, and lawyers.
Annette Smith is a Family Defender in Eugene, Oregon where she represents children and parents in dependency proceedings. She is also a national advocate against congregate care abuse and fights for the appropriate placement and protection of children in the custody of the state child welfare system. She has also represented youth charged in delinquency court.
Chelsea Maldonado is an investigative researcher for iHeart’s Trapped in Treatment Podcast She is also a survivor of the ‘troubled teen industry’ who uses her lived experience to advocate for increased oversight of residential facilities for youth.
@aosimmons_law
@onelawma
@yep4rights
Panel Outline
Congregate Care, Collective Trauma
Congregate Care, Collective Trauma
Paris Hilton & Sixto Cancel at NCSL 2022
Video used with permission from 11:11 Impact
Racial Inequality in
Residential Placements
Congregate Care, Collective Trauma
Racial Inequities in Residential Placements
Native youth are more than three times as likely to be detained or committed in juvenile facilities as their white peers
3X
Latinx youth are 28% more likely to be detained or committed in juvenile facilities as their white peers
28%
Racial disparities grew by more than 10% in 11 states and decreased by at least 10% in 23 states and the District of Columbia.
10%
Black youth are more than four times as likely to be detained or committed in juvenile facilities as their white peers
4X
Staff, J. J. I. E. (2021, August 26). Analysis: Racial disparities in juvenile detention narrowed overall, but widened in some states. Juvenile Justice Information Exchange. Retrieved October 31, 2022, from https://jjie.org/2021/07/26/analysis-racial-disparities-in-juvenile-detention-narrowed-overall-but-widened-in-some-states/
OJJDP Data on Race in Residential Placements
Congregate Care, Collective Trauma
In 2015, the CJRP showed that the juveniles in residential placement were:
This data suggests an overrepresentation of minority youth. The racial breakdown in residential facilities has changed only slightly over the past two decades with small increases in the percentage of Hispanic youth and small decreases in the percentage of white and Asian youth (Sickmund et al., 2017)
Congregate Care, Collective Trauma
Notable Incidents
Connor Bennett
A 15-year-old resident of Sequel TIS of Tuskegee died by suicide after repeated sexual, emotional and physical abuse
April 2022
Brylan Butcher
A 14-year-old resident of an Abraxas facility in Ohio died from gunshot wounds after running away
March 2022
Naomi Wood
A 17-year-old resident of Lakeland Teen Challenge Academy died by medical neglect after suffering a seizure
May 2020
Cornelius Fredericks
A 16-year-old resident of Sequel’s Lakeside Academy died by cardiac arrest following a restraint
April 2020
Ja’Ceon Terry
A 7-year-old resident of Brooklawn, a residential treatment facility, died by “positional asphyxia,” caused by a restraint
July 2022
Problems with Inconsistent Nomenclature
Problems with Inconsistency in Nomenclature
Congregate Care, Collective Trauma
“Juvenile residential facilities vary considerably. The JRFC and CJRP classify the facilities serving committed, detained, and diverted youth as follows: detention center, shelter, reception/diagnostic center/assessment center, group home, ranch/wilderness camp, boot camp, residential treatment center, and long-term secure facility (Puzzanchera et al., 2018; Sickmund et al., 2017).
While some facilities specialize in only one type of referral (e.g., a residential treatment center that only serves committed youth), the CJRP found that, in the aggregate, each of these facility types housed youth for a variety of purposes, such as a detention center that housed both detained and committed youth (Puzzanchera et al., 2018). As noted above, because these definitions of residential programs are fluid, their characteristics may vary from state to state.”
Congregate Care, Collective Trauma
2019 Residential Placements by Type
Easy Access to the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement: 2019
Issues with Privatization
The Problem with Privatization of Juvenile Residential Facilities
Congregate Care, Collective Trauma
“For-profit youth confinement companies are driven by the bottom line, which means pressure is high to increase the number of youth confined, and to keep costs severely pared down – not for the public benefit, but for their own profit. Unfortunately, achieving this goal often conflicts with a goal we all agree on: safely providing youth with needed services and rigorous programming in the least restrictive environment possible, to ensure they re-enter society as law-abiding citizens, thereby keeping our neighborhoods safe.”
National Juvenile Justice Network
Confining Youth for Profit: Policy Platform
Congregate Care, Collective Trauma
2019 Privatization of Residential Facilities
Easy Access to the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement: 2019
Policy Solutions
Congregate Care, Collective Trauma
At both a state and federal level, we need:
Policy Solutions: Federal
Congregate Care, Collective Trauma
The Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act authorizes funds for states to develop congregate care best practices and reporting procedures, collects data to guide policy responses, provides training for state officials, social workers, mental health professionals, and judicial employees, and creates a uniform Youth in Congregate Care Bill of Rights for all youth in congregate care.
The Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act (SICAA)
Reduction in Jurisdictional Confusion
Minimum Safety Standards
Uniform Data Collection & Reporting
Policy Solutions: State
Congregate Care, Collective Trauma
UTAH
MISSOURI
OREGON
HB15 (in committee)
Modifies the exemptions from licensure required for foster homes and child placing agencies
SB127 (passed 2021)
Enhances oversight of the state’s “troubled teen industry” and places limits on their use of restraints, drugs and isolation rooms.
Oregon is regulating transport, requiring reporting, limiting restraints, broadening protections for youth during abuse investigations, and increasing oversight.
CALL TO ACTION
Congregate Care, Collective Trauma
@aosimmons_law
@onelawma
@yep4rights