U.S. Department of Justice launches investigation into conditions at Kentucky detention centers

WASHINGTON, D.C – On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a press release outlining a Civil Rights Investigation into conditions at eight Kentucky youth detention centers and one youth development center run by the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice.

The investigation centers around allegations of lack of child safety due to alleged excessive force by staff, prolonged isolation and inadequate protection from violence and sexual abuse. The Justice Department will also investigate whether the state provides required mental health, special education, and related services to children with disabilities.

“Confinement in the juvenile justice system should help children avoid future contact with law enforcement and mature into law-abiding, productive members of society. Too often, juvenile justice facilities break our children, exposing them to dangerous and traumatic conditions,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We are launching this investigation to ensure that children in Kentucky youth detention facilities are safe from harm, receive adequate mental health care and get appropriate special education services. All children held in the custody of the state deserve safe and humane conditions that can bring about true rehabilitation and reform.”

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky stands ready to protect the rights of all children in Kentucky, including those who end up in juvenile detention,” said U.S. Attorney Mike Bennett for the Western District of Kentucky. “We look forward to partnering with the Civil Rights Division and our colleagues in the Eastern District to conduct a fair and thorough investigation of these allegations.”

According to the release, the investigation will focus on Kentucky detention centers that hold children awaiting a court hearing.

No conclusions have been made by the Justice Department on the allegations.

The investigation is being conducted by the Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section jointly with the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Western and Eastern Districts of Kentucky under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. Each statute allows the Justice Department to have the authority to investigate violations of rights against children at juvenile justice facilities.

The Beshear-Coleman administration and the Commonwealth of Kentucky Justice & Public Safety Cabinet released a response Wednesday afternoon.

“Over the past four years, the administration has enacted the most extensive reforms to the Department of Juvenile Justice since its inception. These reforms include separating males and females into different facilities, separating those accused of significant crimes from status and lower-level offenders, providing significant raises to boost staffing and upgrading security. We have also required more training, created a compliance branch to monitor all facilities and have hired more psychologists, social workers and security experts,” Gov. Andy Beshear said. “While the General Assembly has provided some help, it recently failed to fund two needed detention facilities, as well as a specialized residence for juveniles with extensive mental illness. Funding was also denied for additional safety improvements. The Department of Juvenile Justice will cooperate with the Department of Justice while also strongly advocating for the safety of its staff.”

“Every juvenile placed in the custody of the state deserves to be safe. We have made progress on the security of our juvenile facilities; we have trained our personnel, protected juveniles and staff against violent attacks and taken corrective action against employee misconduct,” Jackson said. “We look forward to being able to talk to the Department of Justice, because as of today, no members of our leadership have been interviewed, and we have not had the opportunity to discuss any incident, policy or issue with the Department of Justice.”

According to the release, the Beshear-Coleman administration enacted historic measures of reform within the juvenile justice system and called for critical funding.

Investigators ask individuals with information on the allegations to contact the department via phone at (888) 392-8241 or by email at Kentucky.Kids@usdoj.gov.

Read the just department’s release here.

Read the Beshear-Coleman administration’s response here.