Kids in New York’s juvenile detention centers were placed in solitary confinement in tiny cells for up to 24 hours a day — some lacking fresh water and a bucket for a toilet — over minor infractions or as a way to deal with staffing issues, a new bombshell lawsuit claims.
The class action suit claims five facilities under the State Office of Children and Family Services “routinely and unlawfully [impose] solitary confinement” as punishment on children as young as 12 left “alone in small, barren cells for extended periods.”
Many of the so-called “infractions” sparking the punishing treatment are due to behavioral issues from diagnosed disabilities, the suit claims — adding some kids told guards they’d rather kill themselves than endure the care of OCFS.
The “unlawful” solitary lockup periods can last as long as weeks or months, despite a statewide prohibition on solitary confinement for youth in adult facilities, the lawsuit states.
“OCFS must immediately put an end to these barbaric unlawful and inhumane practices and ensure these young New Yorkers are provided appropriate care, including basic hygiene, education and rehabilitative services,” said Dawne Mitchell, a Legal Aid attorney for juvenile rights.
“The devastating and permanent harm inflicted on young people through solitary confinement demands immediate legal intervention to force systemic change in how our state treats its most vulnerable youth,” said Jeremy Creelan, of law firm Jenner and Block, which filed the suit along with Legal Aid.
Five named plaintiffs — all black youngsters from New York City — described similar experiences at the state facilities in the lawsuit filed in Manhattan Federal Court.
One 17-year-old named Issac who suffers from PTSD had shown progress and dedication to continuing his schooling, nearly earning his high school diploma, while in pre-trial detention in Brooklyn, where he received praise for his conduct and academic work, the suit states.
But when he entered OCFS’s facility in Goshen, he was soon “repeatedly subjected to solitary confinement,” the suit alleges, “undermining his documented commitment to rehabilitation.”
In February, Isaac’s unit was placed in solitary confinement for a month-long “lockdown,” and has been confined to his cell “for at least 20 hours each day” since, the suit claims.
Despite his mother’s pleas that Isaac’s mental health had deteriorated, the filings claim officials did nothing.
His own efforts to file a formal grievance were stymied by bureaucratic technicalities, making any recourse seemingly impossible, the suit states.
Christopher, 20, who was convicted as an adolescent offender, said he’d rather go back to Rikers, where he at least had access to schooling, activities and “unrestricted bathroom access” after his transfer to Goshen, the suit claims.
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In a grievance letter, his mother said Christopher had “attempted to take his own life,” and begged that he be transferred to an adult facility, where youth solitary confinement is prohibited.
Another youth claimed his experience at two separate facilities has resulted in “a profound sense of hopelessness and defeat,” despite his attempts to cope through meditation, yoga, sleep and “the single book OCFS permits him to have in his cell,” according to the suit.
The stated mission of the OCFS is to prevent the “violence, neglect, abuse and abandonment” of children, according to its website.
But that was not the case at the five so-called “secure facilities,” where frequent unit-wide “lockdowns” due to staffing shortages forced some youths into solitary cells without bathrooms to “urinate and defecate in food containers or in bottles when staff fail to respond,” the suit states.
This suit also claims that OCFS has long been on notice for its staffing issues and horrific conditions, citing a June 2025 letter from the staffer’s union describing years of “deeply troubling reports” at the Industry Residential Center in Rush, including chronic understaffing, unsafe conditions and “decimated essential youth programming.”
“The fact that these youth — predominantly Black and Brown — are forced to live in squalid, dehumanizing conditions is unconscionable,” the letter reads. “Staff and residents alike are losing hope.”
State officials did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
