There is really no reason that a young person under the age of 18 should be confined with adults, but what is all too often true is that too many facilities are not designed or staffed to provide the kind of supervision and housing that youth need. An estimated 100,000 youth each year end up in adult facilities for some period of time each year in our nation and an estimate 5,000+ in Wisconsin. Supposedly for their “own protection” from adults or simply because they are experiencing complex mental health and developmental issues, these youth end up in solitary confinement – what recent reporting is calling “the dark secret of the criminal justice system”.

NBC’s Rock Center recently devoted considerable airtime to raise questions about this practice, presenting a series of interviews focusing on the practice of holding juveniles in adult facilities, and in particular raising concerns about the use of solitary confinement.

MSNBC Rock Center– Part 1 (Kevin’s story)
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/rock-center/51298950#51298950

MSNBC Rock Center – Part 2 (Colorado teen commits suicide)
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/rock-center/51299099#51299099 (approx. 9 minutes)

MSNBC Rock Center Extra K. DeMott interview:
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/rock-center/51297504#51297504 (approx. 9 minutes)

Ted Koppel live with the Huffington Post interview, Juveniles in Solitary:
http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/segment/solitary-confinement%3A-ted-koppel-investigates/514a589b78c90a236b00016c (Approx. 15 min.)

One cannot watch these vignettes without coming to a simple conclusion – adult facilities and solitary confinement are not safe and healthy places for youth. Putting youth in adult facilities more often than not harms the youth as well as the hope for that youth to become a contributing member of our community. By Jim Moeser