Come tell City Council to Close Youth Study!

When:  Wednesday, December 17th, 10:00am

Where:  City Hall, 1300 Perdido St.

The City Council Criminal Justice Committee is having a special hearing on the problems at Youth Study.  They want us to come tell them why it should be closed.  Come support New Orleans youth and tell them that Youth Study is no place for kids and to SHUT IT DOWN!

For more information, call JJPL at (504) 522-5437.

Many many thanks to everyone who came to City Council today, even if you couldn't stay for the hearing – it really made a difference.  Stay tuned for more media coverage!

Council Refuses to Show Teen's Video Testimony

by By Katy Reckdahl, The Times Picayune

See the original article here: Council Refuses to Show Teen's Video Testimony

The Times Picayune ran an Op-Ed in time for the City Council budget hearings today!  Read below:

City dragging its feet on Youth Study Center

In 2007, Richard Winder, director of the Department of Human Services, asked the City Council for a $500,000 increase to his department's budget. Winder stated the increase would ensure the implementation of plans to fix the problems at the Youth Study Center.

One year later, we are still waiting for conditions to improve at the Youth Study Center. But education, medical services and nutrition are still inadequate.

While some physical maladies to the facility have been remedied -- there is fresh paint on the walls -- reports of serious problems still plague the center. Kids report a lack of medical care. One youth with a life-threatening ailment reported banging on his cell door for hours in the middle of the night demanding medicine, while guards and staff claim not to have heard him.

Youth with mental health issues receive no services or meaningful counseling. In the last year, at least three youths held in the facility have made attempts at suicide, with virtually no response from staff.

Education is virtually non-existent, and nutrition continues to be an issue.

To keep these problems masked, staff members often use intimidation tactics such as taunting youth who speak to advocates and lawyers about conditions. Some staff have even gone as far as making intimidating comments to parents visiting the facility.

This type of inhumane conditions can no longer be allowed. One year after millions of dollars were committed by FEMA to the city to replace this facility, children still suffer.

Will it take another year for city officials to realize that the problem lies within the administration of the facility?

Charles Easterling, Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana

Read the original here.

The mismanagement of our city funds must stop!!  Richard Winder, Director of Human Services MUST GO!!  Come join us at the City Council budget hearings **TOMORROW** November 11, 2008 from 9:30am to 12:00pm at City Hall!

Please call JJPL at (504) 522-5437, ext. 246 for more information!

Carol Kolinchak

Legal Director of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana

Good Morning,

My name is Carol Kolinchak, I am the Legal Director for the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana.

This Morning, JJPL filed suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against those responsible for operations at the Youth Study Center; the city's jail for youths. The Defendants in the case are as named: C. RAY NAGIN, Mayor, City of New Orleans; RICHARD WINDER, Director, Department of Human Services, City of New Orleans; Mubarak Kareem, Social Coordinator, City of New Orleans, Ozzie Williams, Acting Supervisor, Youth Study Center; and the Orleans Parish School Board.

Despite repeated and known complaints of inhumane conditions and examples of gross mismanagement of the facility, the defendants, including Mayor Nagin and Richard Winder, have taken no meaningful steps toward reform.  Even FEMA has declared the facility irreparably damaged, yet we have seen no improvement in YSC in the two years since Hurricane Katrina. Children continue to be kept in an inhumane jail that does not work to protect their constitutional rights nor to improve public safety. There are also reports of a lack of standard educational services as well as no special education services being offered for students with special needs.

It is for this reason that The Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana has decided to move forward with litigation on behalf of the all children who are now or in the future will be confined at the Youth Study Center. We have enlisted as co-counsel attorneys from the international firm of Holland &Knight. Holland & Knight's Community Services Team is nationally recognized for its work on prison reform and civil rights. JJPL and Holland and Knight maintain that it is imperative that the the City and administrators of the Youth Study Center take proactive steps to improve the conditions and replace the facility immediately   

The horrible conditions, mismanagement and poorly trained staff at YSC stand in stark contrast to the rest of the juvenile justice system, which, led by the Juvenile Court, is engaged in a reform process that is rebuilding the juvenile justice system based on-evidence based best practices. We must continue that pattern of reform and ensure that the constitutional rights of our children are not violated.

YSC Lawsuit Press Conference
Close YSC Now !!!!!!!

Hi. My Name is Kevin Griffin, a former detainee in the Youth Study Center.'

I was first placed in YSC in June of 1996 at the age of 11 after being found guilty of aggravated battery. I was a first time offender and had never been in trouble with the law. My family was not able to provide the legal aid that I needed so the courts appointed me one, one who wreaked of alcohol. This was before there were reforms in the public defenders office. While on trial, I would meet with my attorney before each proceeding.  I knew he was incapable of handling my case correctly, but once my family realized it, it was too late. I was already found guilty.

The same day I was found guilty was the same day I was placed in YSC. From day one, we were treated like animals. Depending on the guard that day, we were only allowed 2-3 minutes for breakfast, and then we would have to clean out the cells, sometimes with the same towels that we bathe with. The conditions of the cells were horrible. We had to live with rodents and insects such as roaches, rats, tics, and misquotes on a daily basis. Now you tell me is this any way for any human, jailed or other wise, to live or be treated?

Now over 10 years later the conditions have only worsened. The youth have in the recent past had to share everything from clothing to the basic of human needs such as toothpaste, deodorant, soap, and other hygiene products. In addition, there is not even space to house the youth that are there now. Some of the youth have told us that they are forced to sleep on the couches of the living area of YSC and have to do so while being handcuffed.

That's why I am for the closing and tearing down of YSC, not just to build a bigger or better looking facility, but a better life for the youth in this post-Katrina New Orleans. I understand that some of the youth that are in the system today may not be as fortunate as I was to have a family to support them and one that they can depend on. That's why it is up to us as people and leaders of this great city to do something about this growing problem. As we rebuild a better New Orleans, we also need to rebuild a juvenile justice system that is fair, humane, and works to improve public safety.

In closing, we have to understand juvenile crime happens when we fail to cater to and create more to positive youth programs. Before the storm, New Orleans had 150 Jail beds and juvenile crime was 72% higher than it currently is. Instead of building more jails and tearing down much needed affordable housing, we need money for programs that work in keeping New Orleans safe -- not to house kids like dogs in inhumane conditions. No kid deserves to be held in a cell with rodents, insects, and mold on the walls. Even FEMA said YSC is too damaged to keep open. Richard Winder needs to shut it down now !!!!!!!

Incarcerating children does not make our streets any safer. It's time for New Orleans to build a smaller facility that does not treat our children Like animals.





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