Juvenile detention in the state of Louisiana is so broken that the Office of Juvenile Justice is paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to reserve beds in a rural jail that it might not even need. And even when the beds are filled, the youths incarcerated there have faced harsh treatment, according to court filings.
The state has signed a contract worth $130,000 per month with the Jackson Parish Sheriff, in north Louisiana, to reserve as many as 30 beds in the parish jail, even if the OJJ doesn't have inmates to put there, according to a report last week by The Advocate's Jackie DeRobertis.
What's worse, inmates who have been jailed at the facility allege that the treatment there is similar to what happened when they were housed at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, a situation a federal judge referred to as "intolerable." OJJ moved the youth to Jackson Parish after that same judge ordered them out of Angola.
Some youth housed in Jackson Parish have said that they were sprayed with mace, forced to wear shackles while showering and denied legally required services such as counseling and education.
OJJ's plan was apparently to house the youths in Jackson Parish until it opened a new facility in Ouachita Parish. But the Jackson Parish Sheriff — no doubt reluctant to give up a reliable source of revenue — "indicated a desire to continue to provide unit space" for the youths in OJJ's charge. So OJJ signed a two-year agreement in September. The agreement reserves 30 beds for OJJ use at a cost of $143.51 per day per bed, whether it is occupied or not.
As of June 21, there were 25 OJJ youth housed in Jackson Parish, a spokesperson told DeRobertis. OJJ has at times requested more than 30 beds, but never more than 34, the spokesperson said.
This latest issue is just one stone in the avalanche of poor management the agency charged with overseeing juvenile detention in the state has seen over the few years. Escapes, violence and turmoil has plagued the state's youth centers, spurring a raft of negative stories and a mad scramble to find quick solutions.
A new state law that prohibits 17-year-olds from being housed with younger youths has created logistical problems for the agency and increased tensions with federal laws, which prohibit those 17-year-olds and other youths from being housed with adult inmates and require that they be provided educational services.
If Louisiana's leaders are the problem solvers they hold themselves out to be, we offer up this situation to the hardy among them. Solutions will not be easy and extend beyond the hanging of religious posters in classrooms.
This is the real work of leadership. We hope they are up to it.