The CEO of the Annie Casey Foundation has issued a call for states to close youth prisons because they harm development of young people who get in trouble, expose them to danger and fail to improve public safety.

The remarks coinicide with a new report on mistreatment of people held in youth prisons. Patrick McCarthy, the CEO, said: “I believe it’s long past time to close these inhumane, ineffective, wasteful factories of failure once and for all. Every one of them.”

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Problems in Arkansas youth correctional institutions are chronic and documented by the Casey Foundation. Physical abuse and over-medication are among the particulars over the years. A rising assault rate is another problem noted in the report, along with abusive staff.

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