Ahead of Tuesday’s youth detention hearing, Council bills on Horizon and Crossroads have waited up to nine months

The Council's Committee on Children and Youth holds an oversight hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 1 p.m. on conditions in the city's secure youth detention centers and its youth incarceration policies (meeting page). Four pieces of legislation are on the agenda.

The hearing comes six weeks after the city announced a plan to ease crowding at Horizon Juvenile Center in the Bronx and Crossroads Juvenile Center in Brooklyn, both run by the Administration for Children's Services (ACS). Young people held there are mostly awaiting trial. What happens inside affects their schooling, safety and the cases that bring them back to court.

The city's plan

According to amNY, the September plan would expand community programs and family therapy to keep more young people out of detention, create an intensive monitoring program so some can stay home during their cases, renovate the facilities, add staff and training, and work to reduce court delays. The city did not disclose the cost. ACS Commissioner Rebecca Jones Gaston said the goal is to provide "trauma-informed supports." The Legal Aid Society, which had pressed for changes for years, said in a statement that the plan followed the state's decision not to renew a waiver that had let ACS exceed licensed capacity.

What our records add

What officials told the Council. At the committee's March 16 budget hearing, chair Althea V. Stevens said the average daily population in juvenile detention rose 21.5 percent in the first four months of fiscal 2026, even as admissions fell 3.7 percent, a pattern she attributed to longer stays (video at 3:30). An ACS official told the committee that more than 340 young people were held across the two facilities and that over 73 percent were detained on a murder or murder-related charge (25:46).

At the May 28 Finance hearing, ACS said that as of May 13, there were 362 young people in secure detention, 66 in non-secure detention and 128 in Close to Home placements (26:00). Asked how long young people stay, an official said the average length of stay in secure detention in 2025 was about 97.4 days (1:17:30).

The bills, and how long they have waited.

• Int. 447, from Stevens with eight sponsors, on information about alternatives to incarceration and detention for youth. Introduced Jan. 29.
• Int. 629, from Lincoln Restler with three sponsors, to create teams that review the population of youth held in secure detention. Introduced Feb. 12.
• Int. 977, from Farah N. Louis with six sponsors, on training regarding sexually exploited youth. Introduced July 16.
• Res. 274, from Stevens with six sponsors, asking Albany to let New York City share in state Raise the Age funding. Referred Feb. 12.

The committee. Stevens chairs a five-member committee with Nantasha M. Williams, Chi A. Ossé, Rita C. Joseph and Simcha Felder. Our records show 29 matters pending before it, 23 of them for more than 180 days, with a median wait of 254 days.

A related hearing Monday. The Committee on Criminal Justice meets Monday at 10 a.m. on the Department of Probation, with Int. 1104, from Selvena N. Brooks-Powers, to give young people accused of crimes information about the criminal legal process (meeting page).

What's next

Tuesday's hearing is the first chance for members to ask ACS on the record how the September plan is going. Any committee vote on the bills would come at a later meeting. Video and a searchable transcript will be posted on the meeting page.