Under normal circumstances, incarcerated and detained youth often experience poor conditions while under confinement. The American Academy of Pediatrics, recognizing the heightened risks of COVID-19, has published a policy statement with recommendations for reform, reducing youth incarceration, lessening risk of virus transmission and opportunities for advocacy for the medical community.
Under normal circumstances, incarcerated and detained youth may experience poor conditions while under confinement. The American Academy of Pediatrics, recognizing the heightened risks of COVID-19, has published a policy statement with recommendations for reform, reducing youth incarceration, lessening risk of virus transmission and opportunities for advocacy for the medical community.
The policy statement, “Advocacy and Collaborative Health Care for Justice-Involved Youth,” available today, May 6, in Pediatrics online, calls attention to racial bias and overrepresentation of minority youth in the justice system and recommends alternatives to youth confinement. This is a prepublication version of the policy statement, which is being released early in conjunction with guidance offered in a separate article, “Responding to the Needs of Youth Involved with the Justice System During the COVID-19 Pandemic.”The guidance underscores the difficulties during the pandemic in caring for those detention, many of whom lack access to adequate medical or educational services.
The policy statement and guidance recommend community-based programs for youth as the first option, both during usual times and especially so in response to the COVID-19 epidemic. Incarceration of adolescents should be used as a last resort.
“Ideally, any contact with the juvenile justice system would serve as an opportunity to identify the young person’s risk factors for involvement with the justice system and provide services and resources to improve their health and developmental trajectory,” said Mikah C. Owen, MD, MPH, FAAP, lead author of the policy statement, developed by the AAP Committee on Adolescence.
“Nine out of 10 young people who enter the justice system have suffered some childhood trauma. For those incarcerated for substance use or other nonviolent offenses, they may be better off remaining in their community with services in place.”
On any given day, approximately 43,600 youth under 18 years of age are held in youth detention facilities across the United States, according to the policy statement. Outbreaks of COVID-19 in detention facilities have been reported, but the reporting methods vary by jurisdiction and state, and so there is no uniform way to track the prevalence of illness.
During the pandemic, incarcerated youth already have limited access to visitors, and “being confined during this pandemic could be really terrifying for young people,” Dr. Owen said. “You hear about people passing away in the community. You have limited access to you have limited information about the impact of the virus and how it affects young people, how it affects their families.”
The AAP offers recommendations specific to COVID-19 for the juvenile justice system that include:
“This statement offers many ways for pediatricians to advocate for young people beyond the detention facilities themselves,” Dr. Owen said. “With or without a pandemic, we are in a unique position to help within our own communities.”
[For an interview with an author, contact AAP Public Affairs.]
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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.