They experienced discrimination and abuse as children in the state’s care. A new report shares their experiences.
The Juvenile Law Center’s latest report, “Broken Promises: Futures Denied,” is now available.
Youth advocates and staff with the Juvenile Law Center (JLC) unveiled a new report Wednesday that details unjust experiences and dismal conditions inside the Pennsylvania youth justice and welfare systems.
Using the testimonies of young adults who were abused and mistreated as youth in placement facilities alongside supporting research, “Broken Promises: Futures Denied” advocates for increased protections and a reprioritization of the needs of children living under congregate care and the juvenile justice system.
“You go in there with one specific problem, and then you come back out with 30,″ said Anahi Martinez, a JLC youth advocate.
The report is available to view and download for free at jlc.org.
“They still deserve to be treated with dignity.”
“Broken Promises” is the second edition of the JLC’s report on these issues. The first, “Broken Bridges: How Juvenile Placements Cut Off Youth from Communities and Successful Futures,” came out in 2018.
While the original report focused on problems like family separations, physical abuse, education disruptions, and solitary confinement, the 2024 update adds sections on mental health, LGBTQ+ and racial discrimination, and disability justice. Several of the JLC youth advocates have worked on both editions of the report, both as paid fellows and now as alums.
“We’ve all been through stuff. And we want to shed a light on what we’ve been through — not for sympathy, but for change,” said Alexandria Rivera, a JLC youth advocate.
‘No one heard from the children’
Cathy Moffa, the youth advocacy program senior manager at JLC, said that when the organization published its first report, many policymakers had no concept of what it was like for children living in placement facilities.
“They would hear from staff, but really no one heard from the children who are inside the facilities,” she said. “We do publications like this because we know that’s not common knowledge for folks.”
Their work made an impact; the first report was downloaded over 2,000 times, and was cited by City Council as it voted to create Philadelphia’s first Office of the Youth Ombudsperson for youth and their families to report abuse. Following the report’s publication and high-profile reports of abuse at facilities like Glen Mills Schools, in 2021, a Pennsylvania Juvenile Justice Task Force issued 35 recommendations for reform that are now part of pending legislation.
But Moffa said they continued to hear about experiences inside residential facilities that didn’t make it into the first edition of the JLC’s report. The updated version contains more stories about abuse in group homes and treatment facilities.
“A lot of people tend to have this glorified view of what placement looks like, especially residential juvenile justice facilities,” said Malik Pickett, a JLC senior attorney. “And they kind of picture it like this beautiful college campus where youth are getting treatment services, but they don’t really realize the horrors that are going on behind those walls. They’re so blind to what’s actually happening inside these facilities.”
‘We did not feel safe’
The youth advocates said that they were mistreated and abused while in placement on account of their race, sexuality, gender, ethnicity, or disability. Their mental health suffered, and instead of being prepared for success once they left, they were punished.
“A lot of these places that we’ve been to, we did not feel safe,” said Aqilah David, a JLC youth advocate, who testified in the report that staff members at group homes called her racial slurs. “I had to actually defend myself from a staff member.”
“It messes with your head to be kept in a cage for so long.”
“It messes with your head to be kept in a cage for so long,” JLC youth advocate Zah Brooks said in the report.
Some advocates said they observed youth being told not to speak Spanish or use Black hair products. Bree Hood, a JLC youth advocate, said she saw Muslim youth being served pork and not being allowed to pray.
A theme present in both editions of the report is poor education in placement facilities. The youth advocates said that they were mostly taught with worksheets below their grade level, or had to use ripped textbooks, or didn’t have a teacher that came on a daily basis. “I wasn’t being taught anything,” Hood said in the latest report.
Once they left placement, the advocates said they were far behind their peers (the JLC was instrumental in the passage of a 2022 law that ensured student credits earned in placement facilities are properly transferred to schools once they leave). Martinez said she didn’t want to go to college anymore because she got so behind.
“I was in 9th grade learning how to multiply all over again,” Martinez said in “Broken Promises.”
JLC youth advocate Jihid Maye said that one of his instructors at a residential placement admitted he didn’t have a teaching license.
“They take away education as a punishment,” he said. “They don’t really care because we was already locked up, we was already sent away. We don’t really matter.”
Dedicated advocates
Currently, there are multiple pending state bills that would increase protections for youth in the Pennsylvania.
The most comprehensive is House Bill 1381, which passed out of committee in 2023 and is waiting to be brought to a vote. It would increase the use of diversion programs to keep children out of the system, raise the minimum age of juvenile court jurisdiction from 10 to 13, eliminate juvenile solitary confinement in most cases, plus other provisions. Another set of pending bills would create a permanent Office of the Child Advocate.
“These are kids, they’re still developing. People make mistakes when they’re younger and we really have to recognize that,” Pickett said. “They still deserve to be treated with dignity.”
“Broken Promises” ends with a series of recommendations for policymakers, ranging from calls to keep youth with their communities, requiring cultural competency and adolescent development training for placement staff, and providing high-quality therapy to address mental health issues.
“I really hope that one day, the work that me and my peers do helps close these facilities,” Hood said.
For the youth advocates, the report and their work with the JLC is just the start. Several of the advocates said their career goals were to open their own nonprofits one day, each with a unique vision for caring and advocating for youth in the system.