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Space shortage persists at juvenile jail

At City Council Friday, a group of juvenile court judges described a stubborn lack of beds at the JJIC.

NEW ORLEANS — It is a problem that has remained difficult to solve. How can the city house every child and teenager in New Orleans accused of committing a crime? 

Friday, City Council members learned the Juvenile Justice Intervention Center is still nearing– and meeting– capacity on a regular basis. 

A group of judges from Orleans Juvenile Court appeared before Council for a proposed budget hearing. It moved quickly. Afterward, during a question-and-answer session, the issue of space at the JJIC was raised. 

The judges told Council that the facility had reached its 76-bed capacity.

 Later, the Executive Director of the JJIC, Dichelle Williams, told WWL-TV that at least one person had been released since that statement. 

The judges and Williams both described alleged youth offenders being kept at the JJIC for too long. “Usually the OJJ has a timeline of 15 days to move kids, we’re seeing in some cases they’re there for 45, 60 days,” said Judge Candice Bates Anderson. “We’re being told there’s no place in the OJJ’s case system, no place to put them and we can’t release them back to community, so what do we do?”

Williams added that the JJIC is fined by the state when it gets above capacity. If the problem persists, the facility could face “revocation of license,” and the state may close it completely.  “We can’t take anybody, and we have find somewhere to go for everybody that’s already housed there,” she said of the scenario. 

Council Member Eugene Green asked what Council could do. Judge Bates Anderson responded, “fund some of our requests that we made last year and the year before, and look at the bigger picture of where we need support.”

City Council agreed to send a group of council members to the JJIC to learn more about the issues in person. WWL-TV has submitted a public records request to find out how many people are currently being held at the JJIC.

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