NC isolated hundreds of youth in detention. What we know about how many and why.

North Carolina juvenile justice officials admitted youths to its detention facilities 7,525 times over the past three years.



Over the same period, they confined youths in their custody alone in their rooms 4,539 times, according to state data, a practice experts say evidence shows can be harmful.

Those confinements include:

▪ Administrative confinement: This isn’t linked to disruptive behavior but occurs when staff deems it’s needed, including to compensate for staffing shortages.

North Carolina used this confinement 2,091 times over the past three years, according to information provided by Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Administrative room confinements peaked in 2021 at 1,341, but have since fallen. Still, 273 occurred so far this year, averaging 60 hours each time.

▪ Temporary room confinement: Used to protect youth from themselves or others and as a behavioral intervention. Minors were confined for these reasons 2,442 times

So far this year, there have been 726 behavior modification / personal safety room confinements, averaging about 11 hours each.

Why the administrative confinements?

William Lassiter, head of the Division of Juvenile Detention and Delinquency Prevention, agrees the practice is problematic but said staff have needed to use room confinement for safety reasons during multiple challenges.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a big factor in recent years. A staffing shortage remains a challenge. So is an increase in the number of minors the state detained before trial or while waiting for a longer-term placement, as well as older teens staying at the detention facilities longer, according to interviews and data provided by the state.

In 2019, state law that required 16- and 17-year-olds, including those awaiting trial for serious felonies in adult court, to be detained in juvenile facilities instead of county jails for adults.

But confinements are expected to continue to decline after a recent pay restructuring and the opening of more detention facilities, Lassiter said.

Risks from locking kids up alone

Many experts and organizations, including the the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, oppose the use of isolation and solitary confinement for incarcerated youth, according to the Council for Exceptional Children, the largest international group focused on helping children and youth with disabilities and other special needs.

Isolating minors affects their physical and mental health, as well as puts them behind in school and with social skills, said experts who work with incarcerated youth.

The practice has been linked to self harm too, experts have found. Out of 110 juvenile suicides from 1995 to 1999, about 62% had a history of room confinement and about half were in confinement at the time of their suicides, according to a 2004 survey completed for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency prevention.

“Isolation has detrimental effects on everybody, but especially youth because their brains and bodies are still developing,” said Sarah Hoffman, a fellow with Disability Rights North Carolina who is studying how North Carolina adult prisons treat individuals with mental illness.

Some experts who work with detained youth say frustrations with administrative confinement can lead to confinements for behavior reasons.

Lots of losses, experts say

Confinement in locked rooms brings a loss of interaction at a key time in life for teens as they are figuring how to navigate conflict and build social skills, Hoffman said.

There’s also a loss of education. Teens and kids locked in their rooms can’t attend classes and have inconsistent access to educators, said Corye Dunn, director of public policy for Disability Rights North Carolina, pushing students further behind and increasing their chances of repeating a grade or dropping out.

Youth placed in confinement are at increased risk of becoming alienated with courts and law enforcement, said Tyler Whittenberg, a Durham-based attorney and deputy director of the national civil rights organizations Advancement Project’s Opportunity to Learn Program.

“How could you expect them to respond positively when they went in there, not knowing what was gonna go on?,” he said. “And they were locked in a cell for 60 hours? Yeah, That should be criminal.”

Eventually young people in detention are going to return to the community, dealing with compounding traumas and limited or no access to support, Dunn and others said.

“Asking them to go back into their communities and not engage in the behavior that got them there in the first place,” she said. “We are just shooting ourselves in the foot here. We’re just doing a thing that is very predictably going to fail.”

Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The N&O maintains full editorial control of its journalism.