352 young people, 244 certified beds: what the Council heard about the city's youth detention crisis

New York City's two secure detention centers for young people held 352 youth last week in buildings certified for about 244 beds. At a City Council hearing Tuesday, officials laid out how they plan to bring that number down. Council members said they want it done faster.

The Committee on Children and Youth spent more than three hours on conditions at Horizon in the Bronx and Crossroads in Brooklyn, both run by the Administration for Children's Services. In September, ACS, the Department of Probation and the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice announced a plan to cut the number of young people held and to improve conditions, amNY reported. The Legal Aid Society, which has reported young people sleeping on floors and in classrooms since 2023, welcomed the plan.

Why it matters to residents: the young people in these buildings are mostly waiting for their cases to be decided, and the city is responsible for their safety, schooling and care while they wait.

What was said at the hearing

The numbers. The ACS commissioner testified that on Oct. 23 the census was 352: 178 at Crossroads and 174 at Horizon. Eight were girls. Twenty-six were 15 or younger, and the median age was 17. All but six were charged in the adult court's youth part, not family court (transcript). The two buildings have 123 and 122 bedrooms (transcript). Later, an ACS official said 109 young people had no bedroom that day. Of those, 74 were sleeping on residential halls, and the rest were in classrooms or other rooms (transcript).

More space, sooner. ACS said a new annex at Horizon is under construction and should be done by the end of 2027 instead of 2029. It will have 56 bedrooms and eight classrooms. ACS is also planning auxiliary housing at Crossroads with 28 bedrooms (transcript). The agency said it is adding $12.2 million for community-based alternatives to detention (transcript).

The chair pushed on urgency. Committee Chair Althea V. Stevens opened by calling the system "in a crisis" and noting the population had climbed every quarter for more than a year (transcript). Later in the hearing, a member asked why the population was still at 352 more than a month after the Sept. 15 announcement (transcript). Stevens closed the panel by saying she still had "maybe like 30 more questions" and would send them in writing (transcript).

The Bronx DA testified too. Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark spoke about barriers to sharing information with ACS (transcript).

The bills on the agenda

Four items were heard. None got a vote.

• Int. 447, from Stevens, would require a guide to alternative-to-incarceration and alternative-to-detention programs for young people. It has eight sponsors and was introduced Jan. 29.
• Int. 629, from Lincoln Restler, would create teams to review who is being held in secure detention. It has three sponsors.
• Int. 977, from Farah N. Louis, would require annual staff training on identifying sexually exploited youth.
• Res. 274, from Stevens, asks Albany to let New York City share in state Raise the Age funding.

The committee has 28 bills and resolutions pending, 23 of them for more than 180 days, our committee page shows.

A related hearing the day before

On Monday, the Committee on Criminal Justice questioned the Department of Probation. Chair Selvena N. Brooks-Powers cited a committee report finding a 50% rise in juvenile rearrests (transcript). A probation official said about 1,400 of roughly 9,000 juvenile intake cases were "adjusted," or diverted from court, last fiscal year. She said the department is setting a goal of 20% for next year, compared with a rate of 41% she remembered from years past (transcript).

This follows our Oct. 24 preview of Tuesday's hearing.

What's next

The bills can't move until the committee schedules a vote. ACS said new classroom trailers at Crossroads are waiting on final state approval and could open within weeks (transcript).