Department of Justice Seal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CR

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2000

(202) 514-2007

WWW.USDOJ.GOV

TDD (202) 514-1888


LOUISIANA TO IMPROVE SERVICES IN JUVENILE CORRECTIONAL

CENTERS, UNDER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AGREEMENT


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Juveniles confined in all of Louisiana's secure correctional facilities will now receive improved medical, dental, mental health, and rehabilitation services and will receive better protection from abuse and excessive force while they are confined, under an agreement reached today between the state, the Justice Department, and private plaintiffs.

The agreement, filed in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, resolves claims brought in four related lawsuits. The lawsuits allege that Louisiana's juvenile facilities have failed to provide adequate medical care, dental care, mental health care, treatment, and rehabilitation and that conditions in the facilities subject juveniles to abuse, excessive force, and inadequate protection from harm as required by law. As a result of the agreement, Louisiana State University School of Medicine will assume responsibility for the medical, dental, and mental health services in the facilities. The state will take immediate steps to improve conditions relating to the abuse, excessive force, and failure to protect from harm allegations. The state, the Justice Department, and the private plaintiffs negotiated a settlement resolving claims relating to the education services in the facilities last November.

"It is critically important that juveniles confined in correctional facilities not only receive adequate medical and mental health care and rehabilitative services, but are provided a living environment that is free of physical and psychological abuse," said Bill Lann Lee, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "I am pleased that the State has committed itself to weeding out abuse and neglect from Louisiana's juvenile facilities, and that LSU will join in the effort to enact the necessary reform."

The Justice Department began investigating the juvenile facilities in Louisiana in 1996 under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) and the pattern or practice provisions of the 1994 Crime Act, after receiving complaints about conditions. The Justice Department has the authority to investigate public institutions, including juvenile correctional facilities, to ensure that youth are receiving adequate care and treatment. In 1997, the Justice Department informed the state that conditions in the facilities violated the rights of the confined youth. After repeated efforts to settle the case failed, the Justice Department sued Louisiana in 1998 to remedy conditions in the facilities. In 1999, renewed efforts to settle, rather than litigate, the case ensued, and the education claims settled. In early 2000, the Justice Department and private plaintiffs brought separate actions for emergency relief concerning dangerous conditions at the Jena Juvenile Justice Center. In reaction to the emergency motions, Chief Judge Frank J. Polozola ordered the parties to Baton Rouge to settle the remaining issues in the case.

As a result of the agreement:

  • LSU will provide a comprehensive medical, dental, and mental health program throughout the juvenile system, employing all of the medical and mental health staff and improving the numbers and qualifications of these staff;

  • LSU will train staff in the most effective, non-violent methods to employ while working with troubled adolescents;

  • LSU will survey all suicide hazards in the facilities and make recommendations to remove the hazards;

  • LSU will establish mental health crisis and respite beds at all the facilities;

  • the State will hire 220 additional staff to work with the juveniles;

  • the State will develop substance abuse treatment programs throughout the facilities;

  • the State will develop programs to promote family reunification for all the facilities;

  • the State will develop systems to adequately investigate allegations of abuse and neglect, including development of an early warning system to identify staff with multiple allegations of abuse;

  • the State will develop a quality assurance program to monitor conditions throughout the facilities and LSU will develop a quality assurance program to monitor medical and mental health treatment throughout the facilities;

  • the State will limit its use of chemical, mechanical, and medical restraints and its use of isolation in the facilities; and

  • the State will create six new legal positions to help represent juveniles in the facilities.

The agreement also contains provisions for enforcement and monitoring. When the state has complied with the agreement, it can ask the court to dismiss the medical, mental health, rehabilitation, and protection from harm claims in the four related cases.

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