1. Detention centers are secure facilities generally used to hold children before they have been found guilty of committing an offense (a small number of youth are held in detention after adjudication waiting to be placed in a youth prison or group home). Because the young people held there are not necessarily delinquent, they have an even greater right to education and other services, as well as greater protections from use of force and restraints, than youth held in prisons.
   
   
2. Louisiana currently maintains 19 detention centers that hold youth, with a capacity to hold as many as 778 youth in all. This high number of detention center beds is rising, as in June of 2001, there were only 17 detention centers that held youth, with a maximum capacity of 628 beds.
   
   
3. A child is to be released from detention "as soon as practicable" but may be held no more than 72 hours without a hearing before a judge to determine whether he or she may be released pending the next court date. Detention centers are not designed to hold youth for extended periods of time but, despite very strict timeframes limiting the length of stay at a detention center, some centers have held youth in their facilities for several months. The average length stay for a youth in one facility in a large urban area was 42 days — over a month away from home and school spent in confinement.
   
   
4. African-American youth are disproportionately represented among detained population; they make up the vast majority of youth detained in Louisiana. For instance, in Orleans, 95% of the detained youth in 1999 were African-American and in Baton Rouge, it was reported that 83% of the total number of youth detained in 2000 were African-American.
   
   
5. Louisiana followed the nation in the decrease in juvenile crime during the last six years; nevertheless, detention admissions continued to grow over the same time period. For example, in Jefferson Parish, while juvenile arrests in 2000 were down 22% (back to 1978 levels), detention admissions increased over 300% since 1978 (from 458 to 1,890).
   
   
6. The vast majority of youth placed in detention centers are arrested for non-violent offenses. For example, the detention center in Jefferson Parish reports that 96% of the youth held there in 2000 were for nonviolent offenses.
   
   
7. A limited review of detention centers shows an $85.00 daily cost of care per youth; this figure may actually be higher for some detention centers. As the Department of Public Safety & Corrections only reimburses the parish $21.00 per day for youth awaiting placement in a youth prison, the parish is forced to make up the costly difference.
   
   

Sources:
2.   DPS&C Spreadsheet of Local Juvenile Detention Centers, last updated 12/12/2001 and The Children Left Behind, Investigated and Prepared by the ABA and Juvenile Justice Center, June 2001.
3.   La. Ch.C. arts. 817, 819, 903 and 1509.1; The Children Left Behind.
4.   Youth Study Center 1999 Annual Report and The Children Left Behind.
5. - 6.   "A Quick Look at 2000", Jefferson Dept. of Juvenile Services, 3/01.
7.   The Children Left Behind.