Federal lawsuit alleges solitary confinement, denial of services at Goshen youth detention center
According to the complaint, children are routinely locked alone in their cells for up to 23 hours a day. While in isolation, the lawsuit alleges youth are denied access to required education, programming and timely bathroom use.
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A new federal lawsuit is accusing New York state of unlawfully placing children in solitary confinement and denying them basic services inside juvenile detention facilities, including Goshen youth detention center in Orange County.
The lawsuit was filed by The Legal Aid Society in U.S. District Court against the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, which operates secure placement facilities that house troubled youth, including youth accused of serious crimes.
As part of the lawsuit, Legal Aid released a photo that it says shows the conditions inside a cell at one of the state’s upstate youth facilities. The image shows a small, bare room with two thin mattresses placed directly on the floor. The space appears only wide enough to fit the mattresses side by side. There are no visible comfort items. Hand-drawn pictures and pencil sketches appear taped to the wall, which attorneys say were made by youth confined inside the cell.
According to the complaint, children are routinely locked alone in their cells for up to 23 hours a day. While in isolation, the lawsuit alleges youth are denied access to required education, programming and timely bathroom use.
The complaint includes allegations from two youth housed at Goshen Secure Center. Attorneys say the youth described being confined for long stretches of time with limited human interaction and without access to school or basic services.
“Solitary confinement is causing serious harm to the children in the care of the Office of Children and Family Services, especially youth of color,” said Emma-Lee Clinger, a staff attorney with The Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Practice.
Clinger said the lawsuit challenges what she described as a dangerous practice that interferes with healthy development.
“This case is about protecting kids from a practice that is dangerous,” she said. “Young people’s brains are still under construction, and solitary confinement interrupts healthy development and increases anxiety, depression, and in some young people, suicidal ideation.”
Clinger added that isolation is being used regularly inside the system.
“Young people are being locked into their cells for both administrative purposes and punitive purposes every single day,” she said. “To think that it’s happening to young people is just barbaric,” Clinger said. “No child should be punished, regardless of why they are there, in a way that causes long-term psychological harm. And that’s what’s happening at the hands of the state.”
The Public Employees Federation, which represents OCFS employees, said in a statement that its members “are committed to caring for youth in OCFS facilities but need additional support and resources to do the job right.”
PEF President Wayne Spence said “a lot of the agency’s problems can be addressed with additional staffing,” adding that recruiting and retaining professionals requires fair pay, workplace safety, and “a secure and dignified retirement,” PEF President Wayne Spence said in the statement. Spence said PEF is advocating for enhanced overtime rates when mandated, geographic pay, referral bonuses, pension reforms, and body scanners at facilities. He noted that similar measures are already being used by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to address staffing shortages and urged OCFS to do the same.
In a statement, OCFS said it does not condone the use of isolation for punishment and that it has protocols designed to ensure the safety of youth and staff while incorporating trauma-informed and mental health-responsive practices. The agency said it will respond to the lawsuit through the legal process.
