WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon introduces a bill to provide juveniles with a new system to report complaints about the treatment facilities where they are serving sentences for crimes they committed.
The bill comes in the wake of problems in 2019 at Glen Mills Reform School that led to the Delaware County school closing. A scaled-down version of the school reopened in January.
Under current law, anyone under the age of 22 is required to file grievances through the treatment facilities’ internal grievance procedures.
This method requires juveniles to file complaints to the same individuals their complaints are against, leaving them vulnerable to retaliation, according to the lawmakers.
“America’s young people deserve our protection, but we let them down when we subject them to violence and psychological abuse in correctional facilities,” Scanlon said.
“Incarcerated youth are both more vulnerable to these horrors and less equipped to navigate the complex legal systems necessary to raise allegations of abuse.”
Other sponsors are Sens. Bob Casey of Philadelphia and Dick Durbin of Illinois and U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota.
Sen. Casey said the criminal justice system is in need of significant reforms, especially for the youth.
“Too often, abused and harassed juveniles in detention centers are forced to seek help from the same people that are abusing and harassing them with few alternatives for recourse,” Casey said.
Jessica Feierman, senior managing director of Juvenile Law Center, based in Philadelphia thanked the lawmakers for introducing this “much-needed legislation to increase children’s access to the courts.”
More information on the juvenile justice issue is available here.
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