FRANKFORT, Ky. — The U.S. Department of Justice announced it has opened a statewide investigation into the conditions at eight youth detention centers and one youth development center operated by the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice.

DOJ said the investigation will examine “whether Kentucky protects children confined in these facilities from harm caused by excessive force by staff, prolonged and punitive isolation and inadequate protection from violence and sexual abuse.” It will also investigate whether the state provides “adequate mental health services and required special education and related service 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,” she added.

“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.”

The investigation focuses on detention centers, which mainly hold children awaiting a court hearing. Nationally, detention centers admit nearly 200,000 children every year, holding approximately 16,000 youth on any night. The average length of stay for a child in detention is 27 days. Research shows that even far shorter stays can have profound and potentially lifelong negative consequences for children, according to the DOJ.

Kentucky’s DJJ has been under public scrutiny for understaffing and use of excessive force. In an audit conducted by state auditor Allison Ball, R-Ky., it was revealed the department had failed to implement most of the reforms called for in a 2017 critical inspection report. The 230-page report showed DJJ’s use of force polices conflict with the national standard and that DJJ facilities are pepper spraying inmates at a rate 74 times higher than it is used in adult federal prisons. It also found over a 25% vacancy rate in juvenile corrections officer position.

Both the Republican-led state legislature and Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., have sought to address problems within DJJ. The General Assembly put an additional $9 million to DJJ for each year in its two-year budget. At Beshear’s direction, DJJ has implemented several measures, including hiring a director of security to oversee operations and reorganizing the department by function to better manage facilities, raising the starting salary of DJJ workers, and made substantial improvements to the physical facilities. The department also opened its first female-only detention center and began separating male juveniles by security level based on the severity of their offense, among other measures.

“Over the past four years, the administration has enacted the most extensive reforms to the Department of Juvenile Justice since its inception,” Beshear said in a statement. He added the DJJ would cooperate with the DOJ while still advocating for the safety of its staff.

“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,” said Kentucky Department Justice and Public Safety Cabinet Secretary Keith Jackson. “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.”

The DOJ said it had not reached a conclusion regarding the allegations in the case. It will be conducted under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act and the Violent Crim Control and Law Enforcement Act. According to DOJ, both statutes give the department the “authority to investigate systemic violations of the rights of young people in juvenile justice facilities.”