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Juvenile Detention

Cleveland August 26
The Girls Who Survived
Ohio’s residential treatment centers left them with trauma and questions. The friendships forged inside helped them heal and find answers.
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Redemption Songs August 23
Two 17-Year-Olds in Custody Wrote a Love Song in an Arts Program. One Didn’t Survive.
The Radical Reversal program opens recording studios in youth correctional facilities. The work doesn’t come without heartbreak.
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Clockwise from top left: A photo shows a White woman with long blue hair, wearing a blue T-shirt, standing in front of a white building; a black-and-white photo shows a one-story building with a dark roof and the shadows of trees visible on its side; a photo shows a Mexican American woman in a blue top and black pants standing on the grass in front of some leafy trees; a photo framed through a car window shows a green sign saying “Fox Run.”
Cleveland July 30
It Was Supposed to Be a Haven for Troubled Teens. They Risked Everything to Escape.
At Fox Run, one of Ohio’s largest youth residential treatment centers, kids and former staff detail a litany of trauma.
By and
An illustration shows a White man with a beard sitting on a picnic blanket with two people sitting near him. He is having a flashback to his time as a teen in youth detention, which is visualized as a series of transparent versions of his younger self, next to his adult self. In the background are small figures of children playing.
Life Inside July 24
I Spent 78 Days in a Violent Youth Jail. I Have PTSD for Life.
Vivid flashbacks, extreme anxiety and feelings of isolation continue to plague me 22 years later.
By Joey Heilman
A photo shows a brick wall with barbed wire and a sign that reads, "Barry J. Nidorf Facility, 16350 Filbert Street."
Closing Argument February 21
‘Alarmed’: What Happens When Juvenile Detention Centers Don’t Have Enough Staff
From California to New York, juvenile detention systems struggle to protect the youth they house.
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A Black man in a tracksuit stands as he speaks to teenagers, dressed in orange uniforms, sitting inside a room. Officers monitor the teenagers while standing on the side.
Closing Argument November 8, 2025
The Competing Visions to Fix the Country’s Juvenile Justice Crisis
Some states keep adding beds in already troubled facilities, while others are trying alternative approaches to detention or keeping some children out of the system altogether.
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A photo shows a group of Black men and women holding hands, closing their eyes, and bowing their heads in prayer in a forest.
Life Inside October 24, 2025
Finding the Racist Roots of Maryland’s Juvenile Justice System
As Maryland’s secretary of juvenile services, Vincent Schiraldi exposed a history of torture, neglect and Black boys buried in unmarked graves.
By Vincent Schiraldi
A photo of a small red building situated on a grassy landscape dotted with trees is overlaid on a monochrome photo of a campus dotted with buildings and trees.
Feature July 14, 2025
Dozens of Teens Who Spent Time at Abusive Florida Reform School Ended Up on Death Row
At least 34 boys from the Dozier School were later sentenced to death. Did abuse make them more violent?
By Leonora Lapeter Anton
In 2020, Los Angeles County approved reforms meant to close the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, pictured here in 2023, but this week local officials declared an emergency in order to assign other workers to help staff the facility.
Closing Argument December 21, 2024
While Youth Detention Numbers Rise, States Begin to Roll Back Reforms
Los Angeles County is one of many places that have struggled to maintain safe conditions for youth and seen reform efforts stall or be abandoned.
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An aerial view of Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey, California.
Closing Argument September 7, 2024
The Seemingly Endless Cycle of Reforms in Juvenile Justice
As Ohio considers closing youth detention facilities, recent efforts in other states have hit roadblocks.
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