http://www.thedefendersonline.com/2010/02/19/juvenile-detention-facilities-in-new-york-state-the-ghetto-dynamic-at-work/ A civil rights blog promoting informed discourse on issues of race, justice, equality and democracy. Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:11:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.thedefendersonline.com/2010/02/19/juvenile-detention-facilities-in-new-york-state-the-ghetto-dynamic-at-work/comment-page-1/#comment-7625 Federal Oversight of New York State Juvenile Prisons: A New Start for Penal Reform? | The Defenders Online | A Civil Rights Blog Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:09:02 +0000 http://www.thedefendersonline.com/?p=12424#comment-7625 [...] It was the death of a 15-year-old youth with mental problems four years ago in one of the facilities.... [...] [...] It was the death of a 15-year-old youth with mental problems four years ago in one of the facilities…. [...]

]]> http://www.thedefendersonline.com/2010/02/19/juvenile-detention-facilities-in-new-york-state-the-ghetto-dynamic-at-work/comment-page-1/#comment-2813 David Chura Sat, 20 Feb 2010 19:45:50 +0000 http://www.thedefendersonline.com/?p=12424#comment-2813 Many of the kids that end up in juvenile detention centers have been a part of the child "welfare" system all their lives--family court (many start there because of their parents problems); foster care; group homes; homeless shelters; juvenile detention. A system that was initially set up to care for them ends up being a system that neglects, abuses and ultimately punishes them. Many of the kids (some as young as 15) that I taught over a ten year period in a New York adult county lockup had already experienced the brutality of detention centers; adult jail was even worse. Kids are remarkably resilient. They see hope where many of us adults would despair. But if we adults keep disappointing them, the very adults that are there to take care of them, despair eventually sets in and society is confronted with another angry, disaffected generation. Let's hope that New York, just one of many states, gets its act together. Many of the kids that end up in juvenile detention centers have been a part of the child “welfare” system all their lives–family court (many start there because of their parents problems); foster care; group homes; homeless shelters; juvenile detention. A system that was initially set up to care for them ends up being a system that neglects, abuses and ultimately punishes them. Many of the kids (some as young as 15) that I taught over a ten year period in a New York adult county lockup had already experienced the brutality of detention centers; adult jail was even worse. Kids are remarkably resilient. They see hope where many of us adults would despair. But if we adults keep disappointing them, the very adults that are there to take care of them, despair eventually sets in and society is confronted with another angry, disaffected generation. Let’s hope that New York, just one of many states, gets its act together.

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