CCC Report: Inside Out: Youth Experiences Inside New York’s Juvenile Placement System

Published December, 2009

Youth who have been adjudicated juvenile delinquents can be placed, by a Family Court Judge, into a juvenile placement facility operated by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS). These facilities are typically located upstate, are very expensive and have historically produced poor outcomes including an 80% recidivism rate. Juvenile placement includes three phases: Intake, Facility Care and Aftercare.

From 2003-2005, CCC followed 12 boys through all three phases of placement by traveling to more than a dozen facilities and aftercare offices to conduct intake, facility care, and aftercare interviews with youth and staff and the review case records. Inside Out makes findings and recommendations based on that longitudinal research and our analysis of changes and policies and practice since that time.

CCC’s recommendations include:

• Reject a corrections-based facility environment and implement a youth development approach to supervision and care.
• Tailor youth assessments and service plans to identify and meet individual youth service needs.
• Increase access to and the quality of education, youth development, and health and mental health services system-wide.
• Establish meaningful opportunities for youth and family engagement at each decision-making point from intake through aftercare.
• Strengthen quality control mechanisms in order to improve facility and agency accountability and youth outcomes.
• Align juvenile placement capacity with population trends and expand opportunities to place youth in community- based settings closer to home