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Contraband flowed, abuse under-reported at NYC juvenile detention centers, audit finds
By
Giulia Heyward
Published Apr 12, 2025
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Bahar Ostadan/Gothamist
By
Giulia Heyward
Published Apr 12, 2025
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Razors, narcotics and other contraband flowed freely through New York City’s juvenile detention centers while instances of sexual assault and abuse went unreported according to an audit published on Thursday by the state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
The audit — which found that the local children services administration, or ACS, failed to adequately monitor the city’s juvenile detention centers — is only the latest report of negligence at these sites.
Hundreds of New Yorkers have already filed lawsuits alleging that they were sexually abused by staffers at the city’s two juvenile detention centers: the Horizon Juvenile Center in the Bronx and Crossroads Juvenile Center in Brooklyn. And Gothamist previously reported on the proliferation of contraband in the Brooklyn juvenile detention centers after obtaining staff records last summer.
In addition to instances of sexual abuse and violence that were not properly disclosed , the 46-page report cited multiple instances of negligence at the two sites, including youth being chronically absent from school and not receiving the educational and mental health services they required.
The findings of the report were “extremely troubling” to Gamal Willis, chief program officer at Avenues for Justice, an alternative to incarceration program that advocates for children and teens in the city.
“It’s alarming. It’s troubling. But unfortunately the spotlight has not been placed on what’s being done — it’s out of sight, out of mind,” he said.
The audit based its findings on data collected between Oct. 2018 and Dec. 2023. This time period included the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, which upended prisons and led to nationwide staffing shortages.
The data collection also began at the same time juvenile detention centers began receiving an influx of 16- and 17-year-olds originally sent to Rikers Island after the state’s Raise the Age Law took effect. The legislation increased the age at which one could be tried as an adult in New York from 16 to 18.
In a statement to Gothamist, an ACS spokesperson said the audit is missing reforms made since the time of the study.
“The audit does not accurately depict all of the improvements that have more recently been made at Crossroads and Horizon because it covers a five year period during which two unprecedented events occurred: the implementation of Raise the Age and the COVID-19 pandemic,” said ACS spokesperson Marisa Kaufman.
The audit acknowledged that both the Covid-19 pandemic, and the influx of 16 and 17-year-olds may have played a role in overwhelming the city’s juvenile detention centers, but regardless, DiNapoli emphasized that more needs to be done.
“To protect the youth and the staff, the agency should improve case management, address safety issues and ensure access to education, special education and medical and mental health services so the youth are prepared to re-enter society and have hope for a better future,” he said in a statement Friday.
The findings of the audit are “alarming,” said Deputy Comptroller Tina Kim. But one of the biggest obstacles was the huge gap in data that ACS could not retrieve for the state Comptroller’s analysis.
“I think when you read the report you can see that more still needs to be done,” Kim said.
Instances of sexual abuse, self harm and assault went underreported – and even when ACS did file reports to the state, they did not come until days, or sometimes weeks, after the incidents took place. This included one incident in which someone attempted to escape from Crossroads but a report wasn’t sent until two days later.
The number of razors, narcotics, cell phones and other contraband increased from 62 cases in 2019 to 706 cases in 2023.
The audit also found that only 53% of the 3,643 young people admitted to the city’s juvenile detention centers were screened within the first 24 hours of their arrival for medical, mental health or educational needs. Some who did receive an interview had incomplete assessments or not all the meetings required to enter or leave the facility, according to the report.
Chronic absenteeism from schools also spiked – with youth missing 26% of school days from Oct. 1, 2018 to Feb. 16, 2023, the audit found. Many of the youths in the detention centers were eligible for special education but only 31% of those eligible for counseling or speech therapy received it.
Kaufman told Gothamist that ACS is already working to improve conditions.
“We share the State Comptroller’s goal of continuing improvement, and that is why many of the recommendations outlined in this report were already being implemented by ACS during the State Comptroller’s audit,” she said by email. “We will continue to incorporate best practices to continue our trajectory towards a consistently safe environment where young people can develop life skills to successfully navigate their futures.”
Kim said she finds the agency’s response encouraging – and she and others plan to hold ACS accountable.
“You can see the attempts that the agency is actually making, the attempts to basically rectify some of these situations,” Kim said, adding that auditors will come back in a year to see how the agency is doing.
“We’re going to look again and see what progress the agency has actually made,” she said.
Tagged
new york city
public safety
administration children's services
Giulia Heyward
Giulia Heyward is a breaking news reporter on the Day-Of desk. She previously worked at NPR, as a breaking news reporter, and the New York Times, as a reporting fellow on the national desk. Her work has also appeared in CNN, The Atlantic and Politico. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or more securely on signal at 917-715-1458.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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