Data: Assaults at NY juvenile prisons rise

ALBANY -- The State Commission of Correction reported 337 assaults in New York's four juvenile prisons last year, roughly triple the total of any of the previous four years, or an average of roughly 1.5 assaults per youth.

Commission data showed 226 assaults against other juveniles and 111 attacks on staff, compared with 112 total violent incidents reported in 2011 at the four "secure" facilities operated by the Office of Children and Family Services. They had 211 residents in early January, down slightly from a year earlier. Though they can stay until age 21, their median age at the start of last year was 16.4.

"There has been an alarming increase in the total number of violent incidents taking place at OCFS secure centers in just the first half of this year," Commission Chairman Thomas Beilein wrote in August. He requested an explanation from OCFS Commissioner Gladys Carrion and the agency's measures in response.

OCFS operates the Brookwood, Columbia Girls and Goshen secure facilities, all in the Hudson Valley, and MacCormick outside Ithaca. The agency recently announced plans to close four lower-level residential centers for juvenile delinquents, who are being sent to New York City programs closer to their homes. It's part of a shifting state and national emphasis from punishment to therapy, which Carrion has pushed in New York.

"As is true in almost all transformational initiatives, there are challenges associated with such a significant shift in culture and rehabilitative approaches," OCFS spokeswoman Jennifer Givner said yesterday. "We remain committed to the safety of our employees and youth within OCFS facilities."

The agency said assaults at the four detention centers slowed in the past six months, while attributing the 2012 spike partly to installing more video cameras and a new reporting system. Acknowledging prior reporting was less accurate, officials also say the youths in state custody tend to have more complex behavioral and psychological issues than ever before.

"This is a difficult population. These are kids who have done very serious crimes, often violent crimes" said Barry Krisberg, a consultant to the state. "They have significant mental health problems and drug abuse problems."

The four secure detention centers hold juvenile offenders sentenced in adult court for crimes committed before they were 16 and juvenile delinquents, "restrictively placed" by family courts.

Krisberg, research director at the Warren Institute at Berkeley law school, said what's happening in New York mirrors national trends, including a dramatic decline in the total number of youths in juvenile correctional facilities. He said New York is ahead of many other states in addressing the issues, though it takes time.