As coronavirus cases continue to rise in prisons and detention centers across the country, a second outbreak has continued unabated in the California Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) facilities, where an untold number of young people have tested positive for Covid-19.
On January 4, the department reported that there are currently 17 detained youths testing positive. In total, at least 119 prisoners of the 750 juveniles in custody have tested positive for the virus since June. Lawyers suspect the actual number is even higher, claiming there have been 40 new cases in December alone, according to the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, a nonprofit that provides assistance and policy analysis to reduce incarceration.
The department has not made any up-to-date information available. Also, according to Renee Menart, a communications and policy analyst at the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, it hasn’t put in place widespread security measures, leaving parents of incarcerated children in the dark and having to navigate imprisoned children alone through the infection.
It is also unclear how many people have contracted the virus have fully recovered and what medical care is provided.
“We’ve seen a real reluctance to put in more precautions and better guidelines,” Menart said, noting that information on infection and recovery rates often changes without explanation on the agency’s website.
Inmates are particularly vulnerable to the impact of the virus, with reports that one in five Americans in prison has contracted the coronavirus and prisons show high death rates. Israel Villa, the deputy director of the California Alliance for Youth and Community Justice (CAYCJ), said the centers have the same physical layout as state prisons, with youth housed in multi-person rooms. But while most state and local jurisdictions have switched to release adults from jails and prisons, inmate youth are often the last to qualify for parole.
‘I got a call from a mother whose son is with DJJ. Apparently one child in the unit was sick, so they tested everyone in the unit, and eight of them came back positive, ”said Villa. He said this mother’s son had been quarantined in solitary confinement, with no blanket or access to food. The imprisoned son said he had not received any medical attention.
In March, the juvenile justice system suspended visits from family and friends, further diminishing the already limited contact that the young have with their loved ones. Now Villa said the agency does not consistently notify parents when their children become infected. The mother who spoke to Villa did not learn of her son’s infection until after he was quarantined. “She hadn’t talked to her son in weeks,” said Villa. “So you can only imagine how parents feel.”
“It is extremely worrying that family members are being placed in advocacy roles,” Menart said. “When family members are limited [to] only find out directly from their child in the facilities, there is so much information that is lost. “
While young people are less at risk of serious Covid effects, some of those in custody, the vast majority of whom are Black and Latino, have underlying health conditions such as asthma that can increase the severity and impact of an infection. Chronic health problems spurred in part by systemic disinvestment in communities of color contribute to the higher rates of infection and mortality in Latino and Black patients.
This is the second outbreak in California juvenile prisons, with the first occurring during the summer months. Both outbreaks, like everything that occurs inside prisons and detention centers, are the result of the virus being brought in from outside, often by staff and correction officers.
A former DJJ employee, who remained unnamed due to the sensitive nature of this topic, confirmed that many employees do not wear masks or other personal protective equipment, and former colleagues were told that if they did not have a fever within 10 days of showing, they could have symptoms again. working.
DJJ categorically denies these claims. Mike Sicilia, the deputy press secretary for juvenile justice in the California Department of Corrections, told the Guardian that staff are required to wear masks around children, young people who have tested positive are medically isolated for 10 days, and those with symptoms are treated in the infirmary.
“DJJ’s top priority is the safety and well-being of young people and staff,” said Sicilia.
In January last year, before the pandemic started, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom approved plans to close the facilities and replace the state system with greater reliance on local and state prisons. The closures will take place in stages and complete decommissioning is likely to take years.
The unnamed ex-employee suggested the administrators’ response to the virus was in response to plans to shut down the department. “We don’t know if we’re going to stay open and we don’t know if we’re going to close, but so we say, ‘Oh, let’s hold our numbers.’ Let’s hold on to our dollars, that’s our customers, our youth. ”