Improving the outcome of youths in juvenile incarceration centers requires changes in processes and procedures like legislative priorities, internal policy decisions, and staffing practices. The rate of juvenile recidivism in Georgia continues to escalate due to a lack of sufficient rehabilitation while in detention. Severe understaffing and mismanagement of the juvenile system in Georgia has resulted in the violation of youths' rights in juvenile centers. Increasing the number of professional and experienced employees will reduce cases of mental health deterioration and recidivism among the detained youths.
The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice controls the Regional Youth Detention Centers (RYDCs) that houses youths in anticipation of a court hearing, and the Youth Development Campuses (YDCs) that are long-term treatment amenities. The twenty-two state-operated RYDCs have a bed capacity ranging between 150 and 500 (US Department of Justice, 2015). Approximately 1000 youths are enrolled in the long-term programs where they spend around one to five years. Investigations reveal that conditions in juvenile centers violate the federal rights of youths. The detentions centers are depicted as having unsafe conditions since they are congested, and mentally disturbed youths do not receive adequate mental health care. On April 5th, 2015, a 14-year-old hung himself using a jumpsuit tied to a sprinkler (Walls, 2015). This depicts a problem with understaffing, lack of proper mental healthcare procedures, and failure in rehabilitative training.
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Staffing shortage, mismanagement, and failure to report abuse are affecting the life quality of youths in juvenile facilities. In 2016, a surveillance video at the Sumter Youth Development Campus revealed an incident where an officer broke the arm of a juvenile convict accused of stealing food (Pierotti & Basye, 2019). The staff at the center used inappropriate physical intervention disciplining methods. A former correction officer revealed that he attempted to report violations to supervisors, but they ignored his plea and threw way his write-ups. When youth offenders attacked him within the facility, the officers did not intervene because he attempted to report their misconduct. A culture of corruption within the juvenile system has resulted in the silencing of mistreatment and violation of the youths' rights.
Lack of enough staff hinders adequate mental health care to mentally ill youths. A study conducted in 1996 revealed that 30% of RYDC residents had substance abuse challenges, while 61% had psychiatric disorders (US Department of Justice, 2015). The RYDCs do not have access to quality psychiatric care hence compelling the staff to provide suicide-monitoring services. There is a need to hire enough personnel to observe the effect of drugs on youths' liver, blood, and heart on mental health treatment programs (US Department of Justice, 2015). Thin staffing hinders adequate monitoring and surveillance of the youths, hence posing a danger of suicides, accidents, or fires. The RYDCs are often counseled and monitored by overworked counselors, hence increasing their number to facilitate the provision of adequate services can reduce cases of psychotic episodes, self-mutilations, or suicide attempts. At the Griffin RYDC, a juvenile was hospitalized numerous times for head-banging, which later resulted in blood clots. The juvenile facilities do not provide specialized services due to a lack of sufficient staff.
Understaffing, failure by staff to report abuse, and mismanagement, in juvenile centers, has resulted in the violation of rights of RYDCs. This hinders the efficiency of the organizations from providing quality mental health care to mentally ill youths. Similarly, understaffing derails the monitoring and supervision process, resulting in high cases of violence and suicide. The overworked staff engage in abusive disciplinary methods instead of rehabilitative education and services.
References
Pierotti, A. & Basye, L (2019). Family says officer broke teen's arm over a sandwich. Alive. Retieved from https://www.11alive.com/article/news/it-was-a-daycare-for-satans-children/85-2fc96605-5ce5-4e7c-bc4f-f792eabca855
US Department of Justice (2015). State Juvenile Justice Facilities Findings Letter. The United States Department of Justice. Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/crt/state-juvenile-justice-facilities-findings-letter.
Walls, J. (2015). Georgia detention center where teen killed himself was understaffed, report finds. Juvenile System Information Justice . Retrieved from https://jjie.org/2015/08/26/georgia-detention-center-where-teen-killed-himself-was-understaffed-report-finds/
