JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REACHES SETTLEMENT REGARDING CONDITIONS AT THREE ARIZONA JUVENILE JUSTICE FACILITIES

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona today announced that they had reached a settlement agreement with the State of Arizona regarding civil rights violations at three state-run juvenile justice facilities: Adobe Mountain School and Black Canyon School in Phoenix, and Catalina Mountain School in Tucson. The state has agreed to implement reforms to ensure that juveniles in the facilities are protected from harm and provided adequate services, including suicide prevention measures and medical care.

“States are charged with safeguarding juveniles in their care. Moreover, juvenile facilities should create an atmosphere that encourages rehabilitation,” said R. Alexander Acosta, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “We are pleased with Arizona’s cooperation and its willingness to implement necessary reforms promptly.”

The agreement follows a two-year investigation that revealed numerous civil rights violations, including inadequate suicide prevention measures, physical and sexual abuse of juveniles by staff, and deficiencies in medical care. The Justice Department investigation also found that in a one-year period, three boys committed suicide at one of the schools. In one suicide, staff lacked the appropriate tool to cut the noose from a victim’s neck and also did not have oxygen in the tank they brought to help resuscitate him.

Under the terms of the agreement, the state will correct all of the violations identified by the Department.

The Civil Rights Division has successfully resolved similar investigations of other juvenile justice facilities in Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and Saipan, and recently filed suit over similar charges against the state of Mississippi. Investigations concerning juvenile justice facilities are pending in California, Hawaii, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, and Oklahoma.

The Justice Department’s enforcement effort reaches beyond juvenile facilities. Since 2001, the Justice Department has opened 45 similar investigations into the terms and conditions of confinement at nursing homes, mental health facilities, residences for persons with developmental disabilities, jails, and prisons. These figures represent more than double the 20 such investigations initiated in the previous three years.

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