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Juveniles in D.C.'s detention center are still facing long wait times before being transferred to long-term facilities with appropriate rehabilitative services, according to a new legal brief for a lawsuit against the city. In October 2024, the ACLU of DC and Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against D.C. on behalf of two teenagers in the custody of the Youth Services Center (YSC) who were awaiting long-term placement and rehabilitation services. On Friday, the legal team filed a new brief in an attempt to speed up the court process. "They're in an overcrowded, unpleasant facility. Fights are breaking out. Kids are having to sleep in plastic stackable bunks on the floor they call 'boats,' and they're just not getting the rehabilitative services to which they are entitled," said ACLU of DC Legal Director Scott Michelman. "This lawsuit has been pending for over a year. Together, with our partners at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, we at the ACLU of DC filed suit because of the unacceptably long times that kids are being warehoused at a youth detention facility after being adjudicated delinquent when they should be receiving rehabilitative placements, under D.C. law. The head of the D.C. agency in charge of all of this says they should be getting to their rehabilitative placements within 30 days. But it now takes, according to the director, an average of 69 days. That is what the advocates and kids, themselves, refer to as dead time." You can read the full brief here: According to data from the oversight agency for D.C. juvenile detention facilities, YSC has 98 beds, but 117 juveniles in its custody. This facility is meant to house juveniles for only a short period of time, as they await their next hearing or trial. Juveniles who have gone through the legal process are transferred to other facilities, typically in other states, to serve out their sentence and receive the necessary rehabilitation services. Of the 117 juveniles at YSC, 31 are awaiting their long-term placement, according to the new legal brief's citation of oversight agency data as of November 5. More than 74 % of those 31 juveniles have been waiting for their transfer for a month or more, while 42 % have been waiting for three months or more. "This is a holding facility, at which kids are not supposed to be for a very long time. There aren't the kind of rehabilitative services that D.C. law envisions that a child will have when they're adjudicated delinquent," Michelman said. "It does nobody any good for them to sit there with dead time, not getting services, not getting help in an overcrowded, dangerous facility where they're sleeping on the floor." 7News On Your Side reached out to the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to ask about this latest legal brief. Nobody has responded as of publication, but the city's lawyers argued in court that DYRS is moving as fast as it can, but has a severe backlog due to the increase in arrests tied to the spike in youth crime in recent years. Their lawyers also said fewer locations are accepting out-of-state admissions. During a DC Council committee hearing last month, DYRS Director Sam Abed said the agency was working to address concerns. "Our team continues to show professionalism, compassion, and resilience. Every day, they work to maintain the safe and therapeutic environment that supports positive youth development, even under difficult circumstances. While overcrowding puts a strain on our resources, it also highlights the strength and commitment of our staff and partners. Together, we remain focused on improving facility operations, expanding service capacity, and ensuring every youth receives the individualized care and accountability that will help them return to their communities stronger and more prepared to succeed," Abed said during the hearing. With longer wait times come growing concerns for safety. 7News On Your Side has extensively reported on violence and drug use at YSC, including one particularly violent two-day stretch in May 2024 during which 14 assaults sent four juveniles to the hospital. The lawsuit filed in October cited this report. Since then, there have been an average of 36 injuries from assaults per month. Additionally, there have been 12 positive drug tests since September 2024. Michelman said the long wait times in YSC are not only a concern for when juveniles are inside the facility, but also when they are released back to their communities. "A lot of these folks have issues that need to be addressed, and they're not getting addressed. They're not getting rehabilitation, they're not getting the types of opportunities that would enable them to address their issues and, ultimately, get out of detention," Michelman said. "This is something that is a crisis for the kids, and it's also a public health and safety crisis. We need to do better by these kids so that they're not being stuck in what is, basically, kid jail when they're supposed to be getting rehabilitative services so they can return to their communities."
