Lawmakers need to reform Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice system — now

Near the end of last year, disturbing photos emerged from the Juvenile Justice Services Center in West Philadelphia. The photos show youth sleeping on floors in crowded, windowless rooms, where they are reportedly held the majority of the day, sometimes without schooling. The images are the latest evidence of chronic problems that have long plagued Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice system, including overcrowding, understaffing and allegations of abuse.

But the time for half measures and finger pointing is quickly coming to a close. The General Assembly should prioritize giving the state a fresh start to reshape the lives of countless young Pennsylvanians.

HB 1381, sponsored by Rep. Dan Miller, aims to address the ongoing crisis with many essential changes, such as expanding diversion, limiting pretrial detention, ending direct file to adult court, and raising the minimum age of juvenile and adult court jurisdiction, among other provisions.

Meaningful reform is long overdue. In 2019, news reports of systemic abuse at Glen Mills Schools served as a wake-up call for state leaders, who quickly convened a bipartisan task force to conduct a sweeping investigation of the state’s juvenile justice system. The task force identified urgent problems and developed 35 actionable recommendations for improvement. HB 1381 is a chance to take those recommendations off the shelf, dust them off, and finally put them into action.

According to the task force’s report, most young people in the Pennsylvania juvenile system have not committed a serious crime, have little or no prior history of delinquency, and are not at high risk to reoffend. In fact, at least two-thirds of youth enter the justice system because of misdemeanors or technical violations. These are not hardened criminals, they’re kids who’ve made mistakes—often minor ones. Incarcerating youth for trivial violations increases the chances they will commit more serious crimes in the future, making us all less safe.

Pennsylvania’s over-reliance on detention isn’t just detrimental to public safety, it’s economically unsustainable. Approximately 40 percent of young detainees are removed from their homes for a first offense and spend an average of 16 months away. These out-of-home placements consume the vast majority of juvenile justice spending, with the state paying up to $200,000 annually per child in state-run residential detention facilities. HB 1381 addresses this extravagant waste of taxpayer money by expanding deflection and diversion, two evidence-based alternatives to incarceration that keep children in their homes, yet remain underutilized in Pennsylvania.

HB 1381 also eliminates solitary confinement for juveniles in all but the most extreme cases. According to investigative reports, Pennsylvania youth in solitary go–on average–more than a month without human contact. For a population that already suffers from elevated rates of mental illness, such prolonged isolation can have severe health impacts ranging from psychosis to self-harm. The negative effects are profound for adults but can be irreversible for young detainees whose brains are still developing.

Since the task force issued their report, the challenges haven’t just persisted—they have become more urgent. The Juvenile Justice Services Center in West Philadelphia–where the disturbing photos of youth originated–is now bursting at the seams, reaching 134 percent capacity over the summer, the most overcrowded it’s ever been. The deteriorating situation is not just precarious for juvenile detainees, it’s dangerous for employees, as a chaotic brawl in 2022 left dozens of the center’s staff injured.

Rehabilitation cannot occur in settings dominated by violence and abuse. As the troubled Glen Mills facility seeks to reopen under a new name, it’s time for Pennsylvania to turn the page and act on the recommendations painstakingly laid out more than two years ago. HB 1381 lays the foundation toward a more humane, fiscally responsible and overall functional juvenile justice system for all Pennsylvanians.