HLS 21RS-1075 ORIGINAL
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 50
BY REPRESENTATIVE DUPLESSIS
JUVENILES: Requests the legislative auditor to conduct an audit on the use of all forms of
solitary confinement of juveniles in facilities housing juveniles
1 A RESOLUTION
2To urge and request the legislative auditor to conduct an audit on the use of all forms of
3 solitary confinement, room confinement, or room isolation in facilities housing
4 juveniles arrested or adjudicated for a delinquent or status offense in the state of
5 Louisiana, including any facility operated or contracted by the Department of Public
6 Safety and Corrections, office of juvenile justice, and all locally operated juvenile
7 detention centers licensed by the Department of Children and Family Services, and
8 to report its findings to the Juvenile Justice Reform Act Implementation
9 Commission.
10 WHEREAS, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges defines
11solitary confinement, also known as "seclusion," "isolation," "segregation," and "room
12confinement", as the involuntary placement of a juvenile alone in a cell, room, or other area
13for any reason other than as a temporary response to behavior that threatens immediate harm
14to the juvenile or others; and
15 WHEREAS, locally operated juvenile detention centers in Louisiana are licensed by
16the Department of Children and Family Services and are subject to licensing standards,
17which provide for definitions of "room confinement" and "room isolation" for isolation in
18the room of the juvenile; and
19 WHEREAS, "room confinement" is defined as the restriction of a juvenile to an
20assigned sleeping room due to disciplinary reasons and "room isolation" is defined as the
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1restriction of a juvenile to a room that is separated from the general population due to
2disciplinary reasons; and
3 WHEREAS, the office of juvenile justice policy regarding behavioral intervention
4clearly describes intervention conditions equivalent to room confinement and room isolation;
5and, while behavioral intervention is explicitly prohibited for discipline, punishment,
6administrative convenience, retaliation, staffing shortages, or reasons other than a temporary
7response to behavior that threatens immediate harm to the juvenile or others, the extended
8behavioral intervention policy allows for juveniles to be placed in behavioral intervention
9rooms for up to seven days; and
10 WHEREAS, solitary confinement, whether labeled as "room confinement" or "room
11isolation", is often used for juveniles with unaddressed mental health, behavioral, or
12developmental needs, and such confinement can cause permanent harm to the physical and
13psychological well-being and social growth of the juvenile because the brains and
14decision-making capabilities of adolescents are still developing; and
15 WHEREAS, no research exists that indicates solitary confinement reduces behavioral
16incidents or improves the safety of facilities; and
17 WHEREAS, in 2012, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
18issued a statement opposing the use of solitary confinement in juvenile facilities, noting that
19juveniles are especially vulnerable to the adverse effects of solitary confinement, including
20trauma, psychosis, depression, anxiety, and increased risk of suicide and self-harm; and
21 WHEREAS, research shows that more than half of all suicides in juvenile facilities
22occurred while young people were held in isolation; and
23 WHEREAS, in January 2016, President Obama banned solitary confinement for
24juveniles in federal custody based on recommendations from the United States Department
25of Justice; and
26 WHEREAS, in 2018, congress enacted and President Trump signed the First Step
27Act, which codified the prohibition on juveniles being held in solitary in federal facilities;
28and
29 WHEREAS, also in 2018, congress enacted and President Trump signed the
30reauthorized Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, which requires states to
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1collect data on the use of solitary confinement in juvenile facilities and take steps to reduce
2the use of solitary confinement in those facilities; and
3 WHEREAS, on February 7, 2019, and February 9, 2019, two juveniles, ages thirteen
4and seventeen, committed suicide at the Ware Youth Detention Center within seventy-two
5hours while in solitary confinement.
6 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
7Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request that the legislative auditor conduct
8an audit on the use of all forms of solitary or room confinement or room isolation in facilities
9housing juveniles arrested or adjudicated for a delinquent or status offense in the state of
10Louisiana, including any facility operated by or contracted by the Department of Public
11Safety and Corrections, office of juvenile justice, and all locally operated juvenile detention
12centers licensed by the Department of Children and Family Services, and to report its
13findings to the Juvenile Justice Reform Act Implementation Commission.
14 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report submitted to the Juvenile Justice
15Reform Act Implementation Commission shall include, to the extent it is available, data,
16disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and gender, on the number of juveniles held in room
17confinement and room isolation in each juvenile facility during 2019 and 2020, the average,
18median, and maximum amount of time juveniles spent in room confinement and room
19isolation each year by facility, and the top five reasons juveniles were held in room
20confinement and room isolation each year by facility.
21 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Juvenile Justice Reform Act Implementation
22Commission shall hold at least one public hearing where the findings will be presented and
23where the commission can address possible conclusions from the report.
24 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that discussion of the report shall include but not be
25limited to the reduction and ultimate abolition of solitary confinement in juvenile facilities
26in favor of other, more effective ways to address problem behavior and hold juveniles
27accountable for their actions, and the implementation of mental health interventions prior
28to placement of a juvenile in solitary confinement.
29 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study provided by this Resolution shall be
30completed prior to the convening of the 2022 Regular Session.
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HR NO. 50
1 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be submitted to the
2Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of juvenile justice, the Department of
3Children and Family Services, and the Louisiana Juvenile Detention Association.
4 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislative auditor shall submit one print
5copy and one electronic copy of any report produced pursuant to this Resolution to the David
6R. Poynter Legislative Research Library as required by R.S. 24:772.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 50 Original 2021 Regular Session Duplessis
Requests the legislative auditor to conduct an audit on the use of all forms of solitary
confinement in juvenile facilities, and to submit a report to the Juvenile Justice Reform Act
Implementation Commission.
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