Call on Legislature to Fix 2011 Senate Bill 2112 Which Allowed the Practice
This morning leaders from ACLU, NAACP, Advancement Project as well as child advocates joined former Secretary for the Department of Juvenile Justice Frank Peterman, Jr., in front of the Polk County jail in Bartow to demand that Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd stop housing children as young as 10 years old in his adult jails.
Polk County began the practice earlier this month under authority in Senate Bill 2112 which passed this year with little debate or scrutiny as part of the annual budget process.
Under the Polk County policy, children are being housed in a jail built, designed and managed to supervise adult offenders. Children in the facilities are often detained there before being given a hearing or convicted of wrongdoing.
In addition to asking leaders in Polk to stop the practice, the ACLU will actively pursue legislation in the 2012 Session to correct the error in Senate Bill 2112 and bring local policies in line with state and national guidelines requiring different, specific treatment for children in the criminal justice system.
“Putting children in adult jails goes against every scrap of research, common sense and state policy – we have a Department of Juvenile Justice in Florida because we recognize children are different than adults,” said Howard Simon, Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida. “We’re committed to protecting the rights and futures of children by working to keep kids out of the criminal justice system and protecting the rights and safety of those who are swept up in the system. The Legislature needs to act clearly and swiftly to fix this problem.”
Below is the release issued locally for today’s conference:
ACLU, NAACP, former Juvenile Justice Secretary and Child Advocates Call on Polk Sheriff to Stop Housing Kids in Adult Jails
EVEN BEFORE THEY ARE TRIED, CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS 10 YEARS OLD CAN BE HELD IN IN JAIL DESIGNED FOR AND USED BY ADULT PRISONERS
October 13, 2011
CONTACT: ACLU of Florida Media Office, media@aclufl.org
BARTOW (POLK COUNTY) – The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida (ACLUFL) today joined former Secretary of the Department of Juvenile Justice Frank Peterman, local leaders with the NAACP and children’s advocates at Polk County’s Central Jail processing facility in Bartow to demand that Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd stop housing children – most of whom have not been adjudicated – in adult jails.
Despite decades of conclusive research and 17 years of heavy state investment in juvenile justice programs which recognize the major differences between how adults and children are cared for and supervised in criminal justice settings, earlier this month Polk County began housing children as young as 10 years old in adult jails. According to news reports, 41 children are currently being housed in adult facilities in Polk County.
“It goes against the very fabric of why we have a Department of Juvenile Justice in Florida,” said Frank Peterman, Jr., former Secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice from 2008-2010. “Kids are not adults and we should approach them, supervise them and house them separately.”
Polk County Sheriff Judd is housing adults and children in the same facility under a new Florida which allows Counties to detain children in adult facilities to save transportation and juvenile-specific custody costs incurred by housing juveniles in a nearby Juvenile Justice facility law (Chapter 2011-53, Laws of Florida – formerly 2011 Senate Bill 2112). Because it was introduced, considered and passed as part of the 2011 Budget, the policy implications the bill received little attention or debate in the legislature.
“Everybody supports saving money but it’s far less costly in the long run to save kids. And there’s no reason we can’t do both,” said Julie Ebenstein, Policy and Advocacy Counsel for ACLUFL. “Sheriff Judd and other Florida Sheriffs may have the authority to do this but that does not mean it’s sound policy. Children can be lost forever when they are recklessly tossed into a justice system built for adults.”
Polk is among the first Counties to start housing children in adult facilities. According to the policy approved by the Polk County Commission and being implemented by Sheriff Judd, nearly all of the children being housed in adult facilities are in pre-adjudicated custody meaning they have not been tried on any criminal charges. Under Sheriff Judd’s policy, many of the children may be held for days or weeks in an adult jail only to be eventually returned home or back to school.
Although the new policy allowing children to be housed in adult facilities was intended to be a cost savings, any actual cost savings is unclear. To meet basic standards of juvenile custody, local facilities like those in Polk may need to complete extensive staff re-training, new nutrition and meal guidelines, supervision requirements as well as education and visitations policies.
“Every child in Florida has a constitutional right to a uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools and it’s not a suggestion – even in criminal custody,” said Ebenstein. “By the time local jails like those in Polk County make the legally required adjustments to even begin to care for children, it’s doubtful there’s any savings at all.”
The new ‘kids in adult jails’ policy in Polk County begins at a time when state lawmakers and taxpayers are making investments in reducing the harmful impact of criminal justice policies on children. Florida taxpayers will spend more than $529 million to fund the Department of Juvenile Justice in 2011-12 and in 2010, lawmakers adopted efforts to soften the state’s “zero-tolerance” policies for school conduct which continue to push students out of the classroom and into the criminal justice system – a process known as the “School to Prison Pipeline.”
“We must have specialized facilities, dedicated resources, and a determined focus on the rehabilitation of these troubled young people,” stated Adora Obi Nweze, President of the Florida State Conference of the NAACP. “Only by addressing the causes for their actions can young people be rehabilitated to lead healthy, productive lives and remain out of the correctional system in the future.”
Because decisions regarding the policy are being made locally by County Commissioners and Sheriffs, it’s difficult to know exactly which Counties are using SB2112 to detain children in adult facilities and what standards local officials are using in making these arrangements. Media reports have indicated that juveniles from surrounding Highlands and Hardee Counties will be transported to the Polk County adult jail for holding.
“We all know children are our most valuable possessions,” Peterman said. “Children who have lost their way and need supervision are like lambs and we are their shepherds. Where we lead them will have dramatic, life-long consequences.”
Tatania Lamb of Lakeland and Director of the Tampa Bay Academy of Hope was scheduled to join the press announcement in Bartow Thursday. The Advancement Project – a communications and legal action group committed to racial justice founded by a team of veteran civil rights lawyers in 1999 – also supports the effort to stop housing kids in adult jails in Florida.
