Testimony for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ Hearing on Mental Health in Juvenile Justice Facilities

Despite long-term drops in youth confinement (aligning with declines in youth arrests), our nation incarcerates youth at many times the rates of other nations. Decreasing our overreliance on confinement is essential toward addressing concerns around mental health care in juvenile justice facilities. Given the vast challenges in delivering high quality mental health care in these difficult settings, our core recommendation is that the nation must further reduce its reliance on confinement and invest in alternatives to incarceration. We know that youth with mental health challenges are much more likely to be system-involved. Addressing the urgent and significant needs of our youth outside of carceral settings is the better path forward.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) is holding a hearing on June 12, 2026 to investigate mental health care and consequences in juvenile justice facilities. The Sentencing Project’s Senior Research Analyst Josh Rovner submitted testimony addressing four issues:

1. Sharp racial and ethnic disparities in youth justice mean addressing mental health needs in detention and commitment facilities is a racial justice issue.
2. Youth incarceration increasingly means detention, and detention facilities are not built for mental health care.
3. Systems should strive to provide needed mental health care for justice-involved youth outside of carceral facility settings, where parents can be involved.
4. Abusive conditions in juvenile detention and commitment facilities retraumatize incarcerated youth.

Read the full testimony here. USCCR will livestream the hearing (ET) on YouTube.