The state has extended a waiver allowing teens in the city’s overcrowded juvenile detention centers to sleep on plastic pallets in common areas like classrooms for at least the next three months, according to a document and city and state officials.
Lawyers for young people who have been charged with crimes ranging from petty theft to murder first raised concerns that the teens were sleeping in classrooms in November. They said sleeping in a common area is dangerous because it puts the teens, who are between 13 and 17 years old, at risk of being robbed or assaulted by their peers at night. The lawyers said at the time that two of their clients had been assaulted at night, and others had told them they were too afraid to go to sleep.
Roughly 200 New Yorkers between the ages of 12 and 21 are jailed while awaiting trial or sentencing at two juvenile facilities run by the Administration for Children’s Services and state officials: Crossroads in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and Horizon Juvenile Detention Center in the South Bronx. Since October, there have been three “altercations” in the communal sleeping settings, according to Marisa Kaufman, a spokesperson for the city agency.
Kaufman said some of the teens were left with minor bruises after the incidents.
“The safety and well-being of the young people in our care is our top priority,” she said in a statement.
Under state law, every juvenile detainee is required to have their own room with a single bed, sheets, pillowcases and clothing storage.
State officials first waived those requirements on Oct. 23, allowing for “dormitory-style housing” through Jan. 5. Doing so increases the jails’ legal capacity from about 200 to about 219, according to the waiver. On Wednesday, city officials told Gothamist the state has extended the waiver to April 1.
Under the waiver, at least three staff members must monitor the group sleeping areas overnight. Kaufman said detainees sleep in “portable beds” with a mattress, sheets,…
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