What to know about the crisis in Philly’s juvenile jail, and a judge’s latest order

Philadelphia’s juvenile jail has been in crisis for months, and now for the second time, a Commonwealth Court judge has ordered the state to take custody of children to try to alleviate the facility’s dangerously overcrowded conditions.

The judge’s order, filed Friday, requires the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services to move 26 children out of the city detention center within the next month, and then work to bring the facility down to its licensed capacity within 30 days.

This is just the latest action in a nearly three-year clash between the city and state officials over the growing population and “nightmarish” conditions at the juvenile center.

Here’s what you should know:

The Juvenile Justice Services Center is a detention center in West Philadelphia that is licensed to hold 184 young people.

The youths held there are either waiting for their cases to be heard, or have been adjudicated delinquent — the juvenile equivalent of being convicted — and are waiting to be assigned placement at a state facility to serve out their sentences.

The center was regularly holding more than 50 children over its licensed capacity, according to a petition filed by the city last week. Recently, a record 246 kids were inside the facility, 75 of them adjudicated and awaiting state placement.

Unlike adults, juveniles do not get credit for time served at the city detention center. Some kids were waiting months for the placement, and the delays were sometimes doubling their time behind bars.

The facility became so overcrowded and understaffed that kids have been sleeping on mattresses on the floors of the center’s admissions office and gymnasium. More young people were getting into fights and building makeshift weapons to protect themselves. In the fall, a large altercation broke out, leaving one juvenile severely injured and dozens of staff hurt.

The place was so understaffed that children could not receive non-emergency medical care outside the facility. Kids were often forced to stay in their units — some of which are windowless — all day, sometimes with no schooling, according to two groups supporting young people inside.

Without the court’s intervention, the children and staff at the center “will continue to suffer serious harm and face the risk of even greater harm,” the city said in its petition.

The city filed a lawsuit in October after officials said publicly shaming the state over the conditions and placement delays were getting them nowhere. The city hoped a judge would finally force the state to expedited the placement process after a yearslong back and forth.

The city said it was the state’s responsibility to move adjudicated youth out of the facility within a timely manner, and that it was failing to do so, causing other children harm and leading to deteriorating conditions inside.

In its most recent petition, the city asked the court to force the state to prioritize placements for young people from over-capacity facilities, like Philadelphia’s; increase the staff-to-youth ratio at state facilities so more young people can be moved there; and direct the state to take custody of two children each day.

The State DHS has said the issues are complex and could be solved locally if city departments and offices — including the District Attorney’s Office, Defender Association, juvenile court judges, and probation officials — worked together to resolve outstanding cases or change kids’ sentences.

But the biggest issue, the state said, is that its Youth Development Centers are already operating at 110% capacity, and that the city is asking it to “abandon its safety and treatment protocols” and admit Philadelphia youth “at the expense of others from across the Commonwealth.”

A state spokesperson said young people are “being referred to DHS for periods of time far exceeding the traditional timeframe for treatment,” which is stretching resources thin.

Admitting more youth amid a staffing shortage would create “unsafe and dangerous conditions” at the centers, and more staff would likely resign, further decreasing capacity, the state wrote.

“The City’s myopic request is not a solution. Instead, it would create cascading harm that would ultimately negatively impact the City, the youth DHS serves, and the Commonwealth’s juvenile justice system,” DHS wrote.

Commonwealth Court Judge Ellen Ceisler ordered state DHS to take custody of 26 young people in Philadelphia who were adjudicated delinquent and find them placement within the next 30 days.

After that, if the city’s juvenile jail remains over capacity, the state must “accept as many youths as possible into its treatment facilities” within another 30 days until the city’s facility is at capacity.

This is the second time Ceisler has intervened. In the fall, she ordered DHS to take custody of 15 children awaiting placement.

She also directed the city to work with local stakeholders — like judges and law enforcement officials — to resolve cases or change sentences to reduce the population. She denied the city’s request to increase the state facilities’ youth-to-staff ratio.

Philadelphia’s juvenile justice groups say city and state officials continue pointing fingers at one another, rather than take action to fix a situation causing lasting harm to children. The groups said the city needs to come up with community-based solutions to support the children, rather than asking officials to ship them across the state.

Marsha Levick, chief legal officer at Juvenile Law Center, called the judge’s latest order a “Band-Aid” that “merely stops the bleeding.”

“We owe it to these children to reduce confinement and pursue more creative solutions to holding children responsible and keeping communities safe,” she said.

She has called on Family Court judges — who oversee juvenile cases and have far-reaching discretion on kids’ placement — to stop sending children to the detention center for non-violent offenses at a time when it’s so crowded.

“The judges have the ability in Philadelphia to continuously review placements and bear some responsibility for putting so many kids in there,” Levick said. “They continue to fill the facility. They need to play a role in emptying the facility.”

Kendra Van de Water, of YEAH Philly, said the city’s Department of Human Services needs to step up.

“They need to be working together to actually invest in services that support young people,” she said. “They have no opportunities through probation, they have no opportunities when they’re on house arrest. ...They’re not employed, they don’t have vital skills, they don’t have anything.”

“Otherwise,” she said, “they’ll continue to cycle in and out.”

The state is working on expanding its facility capacity. A spokesperson said DHS has plans to open a new “secure care treatment program” in November 2023 and is working to alleviate overcrowding in the meantime.

The state has said the city could use more private facilities, but that comes with other challenges. For example, the city entered an emergency contract with Rite of Passage, based in Texas, and 10 Philadelphia youths were accepted. But the city and District Attorney’s Office have opposed six of those placements, citing the facility’s disciplinary tactics and distance from the city, so only four young people have been sent there.

Cesiler has scheduled another hearing for Sept. 8 to check the status of the transfers and conditions inside the facilities.