Across the Country, Youth Prisons Are Closing. This State Is Building More.

Youth prisons across the United States are closing as juvenile crime rates decline and research shows these facilities do not effectively prevent reoffending. From 2000 to 2022, the number of the highest-security facilities for kids decreased by more than 40%, according to the most recent federal data. Meanwhile, Tennessee's Department of Children's Services (DCS) has budgeted $360 million to construct two new facilities with up to 256 new beds for youth, with construction set to begin this fall and the facilities expected to open in 2028 and 2029.

Tennessee officials claim they lack sufficient space for juveniles found guilty of committing crimes. In recent years, the state has held teens overnight in temporary locations, including office buildings, due to a shortage of beds. While the agency attributes the bed shortage to factors like specific mental health needs and temporary staffing issues, advocates and experts argue that the state's push for more prisons does not align with the needs of the youth in its care.

The state maintains that youth are committing more violent crimes, but the data shows otherwise. Although police reports of violent juvenile crimes, such as murder, aggravated assault, and crimes involving firearms, have increased since 2013, the number of youth entering the juvenile justice system has decreased over the same period. Only murder arrests showed an increase, from 15 in 2013 to 26 in 2024, staying below the peak of 2018.

DCS oversees various types of facilities for kids in the justice system, ranging from group homes to high-security prisons. Leaders of the agency stated that they have reached maximum capacity and have run out of beds in high-security facilities. A 2024 lawsuit alleges that DCS is not utilizing available bed space appropriately, placing juveniles in high-security facilities without considering their mental health treatment and other needs.

The lawsuit argues that the department places youth in punitive facilities instead of rehabilitative ones, contrary to the juvenile justice system's purpose of reforming rather than punishing.