SUMMARY OF FINDINGS The youth confmed to LCJDC are subjected to conditions that violate their constitutional and federal statutory rights. Our investigation revealed systemic, egregious, and dangerous abuses perpetuated by a lack of accountability and controls. LCJDC fails to prevent unconstitutional harms, or minimize the risk of such harms, through undue use ofrestraints, arbitrary imposition ofpunishment, inadequate grievance procedures, failure to report and investigate abuse, inadequate classification systems, inadequate rehabilitative treatment, inadequate medical and mental health care, inadequate suicide risk protections, inadequate environmental safety, inadequate staffmg, and inadequate educational services. We found that: - 2 • Youth are dangerously and routinely shackled to metal beds for discipline and punishment; • Staff have unfettered discretion to immediately administer punishment, and isolation is used excessively for punishment and control; • Suicidal youth are not assessed by mental health professionals despite known risks; • Internal investigations dismiss abuse complaints against staff as manipulative; and • No accoITunodations exist for children with learning disabilities. These systemic deficiencies exist because generally accepted juvenile justice standards are not followed. We found that LCJDC staff members do not receive minimally adequate training and that existing policies and procedures are inadequate to ensure constitutionally adequate care and custody ofthe youth confined to the facility. Staff members fail to report allegations of abuse to the State and appear to routinely violate youths' rights with impunity. The widespread and significant deficiencies at the facility are a result of significant departures from accepted juvenile justice standards and violate the Fourteenth Amendment's mandate that youth in custody be protected from harm. In this letter, we provide
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