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Washington Post
26-06-2025
- Washington Post
Judge wants updates on faulty air conditioning at D.C. detention facility
With air conditioning at the District's youth detention center still not working properly amid a scorching heat wave, a judge on Thursday ordered officials at the facility to provide daily updates as they scramble to fix a faulty cooling system that has left dozens of young people sweltering in confinement for most of the week. Judge Kendra D. Briggs said she and four of her colleagues in D.C. Superior Court have received numerous emergency petitions from lawyers seeking to have their clients at the Youth Services Center released in the custody of family members while officials work to repair the air conditioning, which is not functioning at full capacity. Briggs ordered officials to provide the court with daily temperature readings from the center as well as repair updates. She scheduled a follow-up hearing for Monday. About 100 young people are confined to the center, in the 100 block of Mt. Olivet Road NE, with some awaiting criminal proceedings in juvenile court and others serving periods of detention for crimes. Lawyers have argued in court that their clients are at risk of developing health problems because of excessive heat in the facility. One employee at the Youth Services Center, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk publicly about the facility, said Monday that the building had been without adequate air conditioning for 'days.' The employee said that temperatures inside have soared above 90 degrees and that the center's thick, shatterproof windows, which do not open, have 'created a greenhouse effect.' In addition to the confined young people, the center has several dozen staff members. Briggs ordered officials of the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, or DYRS, which operates the center, to appear at Thursday's hearing to give the judge an update on repair work. The hearing stemmed from a release petition filed on behalf of a 15-year-old charged with armed carjacking. An attorney for the teenager, who has asthma, said her client's health is in jeopardy because he has had trouble breathing while sleeping in pools of sweat. 'This is the first of many such petitions filed,' Briggs said from the bench. Kayla Wyatt, the attorney for the 15-year-old, asked Briggs to order her client released in the custody of an aunt. 'He needs more than a couple of bottles of water and a fan,' Wyatt said. 'I keep hearing DYRS say things will be fixed soon, but nothing is being done to ensure these kids are being cared for now.' Briggs asked Wyatt whether her client had complained of worsening health problems to staff members and whether the staff had failed to address those concerns. Wyatt said her client had made no such complaints. A prosecutor objected to the release. Briggs declined to grant the petition but said she would revisit the issue Monday if conditions at the center have not improved. Erika L. McJimpsey, DYRS's assistant general counsel, told the judge that the center has ordered a large compressor that was scheduled to be delivered by Thursday evening and installed Friday. McJimpsey said that the center's cooling system operates with compressors and that one is broken. Even if the broken compressor is replaced Friday, McJimpsey said, 'it will be some time' before temperatures in the entire building are restored to a comfortable level. She said 46 large fans have been set up throughout the facility to combat the high heat. But lawyer Brittney Mobley, a public defender who has an office at the center, said the fans are not in units where youths are confined because officials are concerned that the fans could be used as weapons. Trina P. Lyles, a DYRS superintendent, said the fans are being used when staff members are present to supervise. She said the young people are being given ice water, Gatorade and ice cream several times a day.
Washington Post
24-06-2025
- Climate
- Washington Post
In scorching heat, D.C. detention center scrambles to fix air conditioning
Officials at the District's juvenile detention center were scrambling Tuesday to repair the building's air conditioning while about 100 confined young people and several dozen staff members struggled to endure this week's heat wave, according to the city agency that runs the facility. The agency, the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, was working with the city's Department of General Services to 'return the air conditioning system to full capacity' to protect the health and safety of the building's occupants, the DYRS director, Sam Abed, said in message to staff members at the facility, called the D.C. Youth Services Center.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Yahoo
Bernalillo County Youth Services Center at max capacity for juvenile males
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) –The Bernalillo County Youth Services Center is at max capacity meaning it is out of room for any teens who get arrested for serious crimes and they don't know how long it will take to change that. Story continues below Crime: Parents charged months after baby's remains found buried in Eddy County Albuquerque: Plans for Sandia Peak mountain coaster will not move forward Entertainment: When can you get Girl Scout Cookies in New Mexico? Within the past two weeks, the county's youth service director says there's been a 30 % jump in the number of males taken into custody. 'So, we're at max capacity for our male residents, and that's 66 beds,' said Tamera Marcantel, Bernco Youth Services Center, director. Unable to take in any new young men and with only six beds available for young women, the Bernalillo County Youth Services Center is now facing a critical capacity issue with more than 90% of their 78 total beds taken. 'I know it's been quite some time. Just last year, our average daily population was only 54. And I can tell you that before the pandemic, our average daily population was, like, in the 20s. So it, it has increased significantly over the past few years,' said Marcantel. The center said it's unclear how long the latest capacity issue could last saying it's dependent on the outcome of each person's case in the court system. Each juvenile offender's stay can range from two days to well over two years. 'We're trying to figure out, is the data going to continue to trend in this manner? Are we just seeing the repercussions of the pandemic and the system is now catching back up?' said Marcantel. If more space is needed the county says it can double-bunk residents but that could affect safety issues including the ratio of the number of guards to the number of residents. Meanwhile, they said some solutions can start on the outside. 'What can we do collectively to keep them out of detention? Because really the last place we want our youth is to be in detention. So what can we do collectively to help prevent that from ever being part of their path or their trajectory,' said Greg Perez, deputy county manager for health and public safety. The county is also looking to hire around 31 more youth program officers. They'll have a rapid hiring event next Saturday at the Youth Service Center on Second Street. The county was also forced to shut down intake for new juvenile suspects temporarily back in June but that lasted for just a few days. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
