Elected officials rallied at the Horizon Juvenile Center in the Bronx on Tuesday, Sept. 22, to call attention to the need for New York City to address the harmful conditions and overcrowding that Black and Brown youth in juvenile detention are facing.
“They think these kids are not human,” said Violetta King, 68. She is mother to Mary King, 46, and grandmother to a 15-year-old who is at Horizon.
Councilmember Althea Stevens, who chairs the youth committee and the Black steering committee, along with fellow electeds, completed a tour of Horizon Juvenile Center. They spoke with juveniles and staff at the center about complaints involving overcrowding, few sleeping spaces, lack of or limited access to education, programming, bathrooms and showers, being denied basic needs, and missing communication with their families.
The Legal Aid Society said that Horizon and Crossroads youth detention centers had approximately 374 young people with a certified capacity of 244. The coalition of electeds, parents and advocates called for the city to decarcerate the youth facilities and release at least 150 young people to their communities by December with access to services and legal support.
Among these complaints about housing conditions are more serious allegations of instances of violence. King alleged that Williams was beaten, didn’t receive medical attention, was left in solitary confinement and without schooling or access to a social worker following an incident with an officer. She made five separate complaints against the facility, which were returned “unfounded,” said King.
“The lawyer didn’t tell us about the court date. They came to my house; they removed my son from the house because they said he had a bench warrant because he failed to come to court,” said Laquasia Tatum, 36, a city worker whose son is currently at Horizon. “My son didn’t come from a troubled home at all. It’s simply his lawyer failing to reach out.”
Tatum alleged that while her son was held at Horizon, he was attacked and injured by other juveniles and staff.
“We cannot normalize these conditions that these young people are living in,” said Stevens.
Raise the Age falling short?
According to state statistics, Black and Hispanic youth made up 33% of 16- and 17-year-old youth statewide, but 72% of all arrests in that age group in 2018. After several years of advocacy, Raise the Age legislation was signed into law by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2017. The law removed youth who have committed a crime from the adult criminal justice system, like Rikers Island, and placed them in age-appropriate youth detention centers.
It was seen as a meaningful step toward rehabilitation for nonviolent youths of color who have made mistakes. Horizon was also newly renovated at the time, having had both city and state money invested in its education and counseling programs.
However, in practice for less than a decade, the law seems to be falling short.
“When we were supporting Raise the Age, we had a different hope. We had a vision for rehabilitation that was going to take our kids and provide mental health support, provide them a path to a different future, but that’s not what we’re experiencing today,” said Councilmember Pierina Sanchez at the press conference.
“There’s a reason why we didn’t want them at Rikers Island. We didn’t want them to lose hope,” said Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who joined the visit. “It’s also not lost on me that every one of those kids are Black and Brown. That’s it, not even one that fits another description. And I believe that if it looked a little different, we probably wouldn’t be having these conversations.”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been in favor of closing Rikers and decarceration, as well as shifting policing through the city’s lofty goals outlined in the Racial Equity Plan. The Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice recently announced this September a partnership with the Administration for Children’s Services and the Department of Probation aimed at reducing the number of young people in the city’s detention centers, investing in workforce development, less restrictive alternatives to incarceration, and reducing case delays. ACS added that it is currently renovating existing facilities, enhancing security measures, onboarding additional staff members, developing updated staff training, and increasing youth educational and employment opportunities.
“ACS is committed to providing a safe and supportive environment for youth and staff in our secure detention centers,” said an ACS spokesperson. “We were pleased that members of the City Council and the Public Advocate had the opportunity to see our secure detention facility, meet with staff and young people, and learn more about the ways in which we are working to improve conditions of care and reduce the number of young people in secure detention.”
While the electeds praised Mamdani for his stance on decarceration so far, many at the press conference vowed to hold him accountable if he doesn’t follow through. Stevens plans to hold a hearing through the youth committee in October to closely examine the current conditions of the city’s juvenile justice system.
“These are children,” said Stevens. “We have to take this as a failure. We failed them.”
