The Justice Department announced today that it has reached an agreement with the Connecticut Department of Correction addressing conditions for children at Manson Youth Institution, an adult correctional facility housing children charged in the criminal justice system.
Under the agreement, Manson will eliminate the use of disciplinary isolation to manage the behavior of children in its custody. Manson will also implement a comprehensive behavior management program that incentivizes positive behavior and provides a skills-based curriculum to help children regulate their own behaviors. The program will include a daily schedule of age-appropriate, structured activities.
“We know that isolation can cause real harm to children — increasing risk of depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide — because their brains are still developing and they lack adequate coping mechanisms,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Placing a child in an ‘adult facility’ does not make children any less vulnerable to these risks. Nationally, more than 2,000 children each year are held in jails and prisons designed for adults. Too often, adult facilities fail to provide children with the age-appropriate services and care essential to development of the requisite skills to become healthy and productive adults, including educational and mental health services required by law. We are committed to protecting the constitutional and federal rights of children throughout the criminal and juvenile justice systems.”
In addition to phasing out disciplinary isolation for children, the agreement requires Manson to conduct thorough mental health assessments and provide appropriate treatment for children. The agreement also requires Manson to provide adequate special education services for children with disabilities, in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
“We commend the Connecticut Department of Correction for its commitment to eliminate harmful disciplinary isolation practices and adopt age-appropriate treatment and services for children at Manson,” said U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery for the District of Connecticut. “We look forward to our ongoing collaboration as the Connecticut Department of Correction implements these reforms.”
The agreement resolves the department’s investigation of Manson under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. In December 2021, the department notified Manson that there is reasonable cause to believe that conditions for children at Manson violate the Eighth and 14th Amendments and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and that these violations are pursuant to a pattern or practice of resistance to full enjoyment of rights protected by the Constitution and federal law. Since then, Connecticut has begun implementing reforms at Manson.
The department recently secured a settlement agreement involving South Carolina's Broad River Road Complex, issued a findings report regarding conditions at five post-adjudication facilities in Texas, and opened an investigation into nine juvenile justice facilities in Kentucky. Additional information about protecting children's rights in juvenile justice is available at www.justice.gov/crt/rights-juveniles.
For more information about the Civil Rights Division's Special Litigation Section visit www.justice.gov/crt/special-litigation-section or report civil rights violations via civilrights.justice.gov/.
Individuals with information related to compliance with this settlement are encouraged to report via email at Community.MYInstitution@usdoj.gov or phone at 833-223-1565.