Teens say juvenile detention officers traded cheesesteaks for assaults

An Inquirer investigation found that Philadelphia has become an outlier in its youth incarceration rate as cities across the country have worked to reduce reliance on abuse-ridden facilities.

Philadelphia prosecutors say they are only doing what is necessary to keep up with the gun crisis, noting that one in four juvenile cases now involve a firearm. Defense attorneys point to data showing that Philly is still locking up children it deems to be low-risk, citing troubling examples like a child who was detained for allegedly stealing his uncle’s dog months later after the uncle and his pet were reunited.

The investigation found that despite some progress, many children in Philly end up in high-risk facilities, even when the system’s own assessments determine the youth are dangerous or appropriate for release.

Philly locks more kids than other big cities.

Measured by both annual admissions and population, Philadelphia holds and incarcerates more juveniles than any other major U.S. city.

Leaders across the country and in Pennsylvania have called for less youth incarceration in light of widespread abuse and research showing that incarcerating children leads to worse outcomes for them and for public safety.

Philly also reduced his usage. However, it has lagged behind other places in the state, region and country.

In Pennsylvania, Philadelphia accounts for about 13% of teenagers, but nearly half of juvenile incarceration and nearly 60% of those sentenced in state security facilities. Most of those in custody are considered low or moderate risk on standardized assessments.

Employees covered up the abuse and officials were slow to respond.

An Inquirer review found more than 650 lawsuits, state audit reports and criminal cases detailing physical and sexual abuse at youth facilities across Pennsylvania over a 15-year period. But that’s just a fraction of the more than 7,000 allegations of institutional abuse brought against the state over the past decade, most of which have not been believed. Inspectors confirmed only 4%. Abuse continued for years in some institutions before state or local authorities removed the children — often unable to coordinate among themselves.

Teenagers and staff in Philly said that as the cameras became more widely used, a new trend had emerged: staff at a Philly juvenile detention center offered cheesesteaks as bribes to beat children who were disrespectful. It’s like “hitting a baby,” said one former counselor. Then the teenagers who fought can be placed in a detention center, which was found by a city guard dog usually imposed beyond the strict limits imposed by state law.

Even if the attack is captured on video, it does not guarantee quick action. After an employee of a private institution head-butted a teenager, The Inquirer found this initial documentation appeared to obscure the nature of the incident and place the blame on the teenager. After the teenager’s lawyer filed a complaint, the employee was fired.

Allegations of violence go back two centuries.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the introduction of juvenile detention in America with the opening of the House of Refuge in New York and a few years later in Philadelphia. For most of that history, young people had few rights and could be imprisoned without trial for years on end.

In addition, claims of violence and abuse arose almost from the beginning—and became endemic to the system. Such accusations were consistently disbelieved or ignored, while spikes in crime tended to spark a renewed zeal to incarcerate children. Here is the chronology of the development of this system.

Philly incarcerates black teenagers the most.

In Philly, racial disparity exists at every stage of the juvenile system, with escalating consequences.

According to state court records, black children are about nine times more likely to be charged than white children. They are 13 times more likely to be arrested and 20 times more likely to be sentenced to a detention facility.

Here is a a visualization of how these dynamics play out.

The high recidivism rate of crime raises questions.

Philadelphia’s district attorney has acknowledged that the juvenile justice system is failing, with a five-year recidivism rate of 57 percent and an 80 percent rate among youth who have been arrested at least twice.

Although crime rates remain near historic lows, calls for reform of the system have largely faded amid spikes in violent youth crime fueled by the pandemic.

This article was supported in part by funding from the Stoneleigh Foundation, a philanthropic organization committed to improving the life outcomes of young people. Inquirer articles are produced independently of donor support.