Youth prisons face economic pressure

NEW YORK, Feb. 3 (UPI) — The state of New York is closing a controversial youth detention center where a teenager died in restraints three years ago, child advocates say.

The closing of the Tryon Boys Residential Center follows a Justice Department report alleging the state uses excessive force on youths in its custody, USA Today reported Wednesday.

The closing of Tryon and another youth facility is being attributed to budget restraints.

“One of the great ironies is that the economic crisis may be accomplishing what advocates like me have been saying for 30 years,” says Mark Soler of the Center for Children’s Law and Policy.

Soler says it has become too expensive to lock up children.

It costs $210,000 a year to keep a child in a youth detention center in New York.

Gladys Carrion, the head of New York’s juvenile system, says no one can look at it objectively and conclude that “we are really doing a good job.”

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Source: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/02/03/Youth-prisons-face-economic-pressure/UPI-63601265210515/