A Follow-Up to DRNC’s public report Behind Locked Doors: Inside North Carolina’s Juvenile Detention Centers
Background
On June 1, 2026, Disability Rights North Carolina (DRNC) staff conducted a monitoring visit at the Durham County Youth Home (DCYH) – Durham County’s county-operated juvenile detention center (JDC). Juvenile detention centers are facilities for youth who are in custody prior to being adjudicated (i.e., going to court for the accusations against them).
As part of this focused monitoring effort, DRNC visited the DCYH three times between September 2024 and its June 2026 monitoring visit. Findings from this earlier monitoring were documented in Behind Locked Doors – Inside North Carolina’s Juvenile Detention Centers. These visits revealed significant problems related to the lack of time youth received outside of their cells, lack of meaningful educational services (including special education), the use of isolating, unsafe, and inappropriate disciplinary measures, the lack of positive behavioral systems, and limited access to recreation, among other issues.
Since approximately August 24, 2026, which was the beginning of the traditional Durham Public School Calendar year, youth reported being in school for about 6 hours per day. DRNC is pleased to see this improvement in time out of cell, however significant concerns remain in other areas, including the quality of educational services, provision of exceptional children’s services, access to outdoor recreation, and access to other rehabilitative programming.
Improvements in Disciplinary Practices
Based on feedback from DRNC and the Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (DJJDP), the DCYH has ceased its use of “the Hole” – a solitary cell in which youth reported being placed for extended periods of time, often without access to a bathroom, bedding, or regular clothing, both as a response to mental health crises and as a disciplinary measure.
DCYH has started a positive behavioral system, through which youth can gain increased access to privileges, including the ability to receive a meal from outside the facility.
Improvements in Time Out of Cell and Time in Class
During DRNC’s June 1 visit, youth continued to be confined to their cells for 22-23.5 hours per day, constituting solitary confinement. Solitary confinement has been consistently shown to have disastrous mental health impacts – even more so for children and young adults – and has been described by various international bodies and human rights organizations “as cruel, inhuman, degrading, and possibly torture” [1].
DRNC observed during our monitoring visit on September 17, 2026 that youth were out of their cells for meaningfully longer periods of time. This change occurred largely due to youth being in class from 8:15am-12:00pm and 1:00pm-3:00pm. However, as the youth reported, when not in class, they were largely in their cells, with minimal recreation time and no reported structured programming. Overall, on September 17 youth reported being out of their cells for about 7 hours per day, with the vast majority of this time being in class and indoors.
Unfortunately, youth consistently reported being confined to their cells for significant amounts of time when school was not in session, such as during the summer (as observed on June 1, 2026) and during weekends, with youth reporting that they often remain in their cells up to 23.5 hours per day. These conditions are similar to what DRNC observed over the previous two years and constitute solitary confinement.
Significant Concerns Remain
DRNC acknowledges and applauds the improvements but still has serious concerns, including:
- Solitary confinement: Youth continue to report being confined to their cells for 22-23.5 hours per day on the weekend, constituting a regular practice of solitary confinement;
- Limited recreation: Recreation time was reported to be limited to a maximum of 30 minutes per day, with many youth reporting less time, despite DJJDP policy that requires youth in JDCs to receive one hour of large muscle movement per day.[2] Although youth spoke positively about spending one day outside for a “field day,” none reported having regular outdoor recreation time, even youth who had been at the facility for more than a year.
Facility leadership indicated that they are taking steps to provide youth with outdoor recreation in the near future, including by constructing shaded areas in the outdoor recreation space. Youth reported one brief additional period of time out of their cell has been added during the evening for 15-20 minutes. That means that after 3:30pm youth are being confined to their cells for nearly the entirety of the afternoon and evening, as meals are typically eaten in their cells;
- Quality of education: While the amount of time that youth were in class has significantly improved, the quality of instruction that youth receive appears to be low. DRNC observed all three classrooms at DCYH, each with 5-7 students. While youth were generally engaged in their individual courses, teaching staff reported that they do not actually provide direct instruction to youth on their individual courses. Rather, teaching staff were observed to largely only assist youth when the youth requested support. While some facility staff were seen providing similar support, these staff are not licensed to teach. Further, the teaching staff present reported that they are not specialized in the various courses in which youth were enrolled. Teaching staff included one math teacher and two special education teachers, all of whom were filling in at the facility due to vacancies. Teaching staff consistently reported that all responsibilities for direct instruction, grading, and feedback for youth were done through teachers at their base schools or Lakeview School, an alternative school in Durham Public Schools. Youth had no direct interaction with these teachers and consistently reported that they received no feedback on assignments they submitted, especially paper-based assignments. DRNC staff observed that student folders contained work that was three weeks old, had not been collected, did not have teacher feedback, and were not graded. At least one student noted that the facility teaching staff have simply thrown out paper-based work prior to it being sent to their base school. At least one teacher reported being told that their job was to “keep the kids busy” rather than provide direct and individualized instruction. No teacher reported having a lesson plan. Finally, some youth reported that, although they are in the classroom during regular class times, they had not received any class materials from their base school and therefore, had not started any work on their courses, despite the school year having been in session for about 3 weeks;
- Lack of special education services: There were minimal to no reports of youth receiving special education services. DRNC identified multiple concerns, including lack of implementation of existing Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), failures to review and revise IEPs in a timely manner, failures to comply with Child Find legal obligations, and failures to provide transition supports. Conversations with teaching staff indicated that IEP meetings are held infrequently, if at all, and that no Child Find system is in place at the facility to identify students in need of special education services.
- Staff threats and harassment: Youth reported frequent verbal threats and harassment by DCYH staff. Staff often told youth that they were not surprised to find them back at DCYH after leaving or that they were not going to return home, implying that they were deeply systems involved with no hope for rehabilitation; and
- Health care access: Youth reported that they had inconsistent access to medical and mental health care. While there is a therapist on-site, youth reported that their mental health concerns were inconsistently followed up on.
Additional Practices in Violation of DJJDP Policy
The following issues were reported that had not been consistently reported in previous visits and which appear to be violations of DJJDP policy.
- Monitoring of Phone Calls
Youth consistently reported that the few phone calls they were able to have with approved family and loved ones were aggressively monitored, with staff often arbitrarily ending calls early.
According to DJJDP policy, staff are meant to “supervise, but not monitor, conversations.”[2]
According to reports from youth, DCYH staff are monitoring calls, rather than supervising, resulting in youth not feeling safe to speak with their family and loved ones.
- Showers and Personal Hygiene
Youth reported having minimal time for showers, and when they did shower, they would be subject to extreme supervision, including staff watching them intently through the shower window rather than observing at a distance. Relatedly, the facility has instituted a system in which staff place youth in a shower and lock the door from the outside. Youth reported being given very little time to shower, with a maximum of eight minutes and some reporting as little as five minutes. This time includes getting undressed and moving from their cell to the shower, leaving even less time for bathing. Youth consistently reported that they felt unsafe and unable to complete their necessary hygiene tasks in this environment.
- Frequent, Random Strip Searches
Concerningly, youth consistently reported that all youth were subject to frequent, random strip searches. DJJDP policy explicitly outlines when strip searches may be conducted, establishing limitations on the use of strip searches.[4] In no circumstance is a strip search to be conducted in a manner that is random and without justification.
Staff and administration confirmed in visits prior to June 2026 that the use of random strip searches is a regular practice in the facility and that it occurs approximately once per month, but youth reported that it happens more frequently. Multiple youth became visibly upset when discussing this topic, often verbally confirming the traumatic impact of these random strip searches. Some youth also noted that staff will verbally demean them during these random strip searches, further placing them in fear.
While facility leadership indicated that they had ceased the use of random strip searches following DRNC’s June 1, 2026 visit, youth provided mixed reports, with some youth reporting being inappropriately stripped searched daily following showering in the morning. DCYH’s random strip search policy and practices violate DJJDP policy, due to their random nature and because staff inappropriately demean the youth during the searches, causing significant fear and mental distress for youth in the facility.
Conclusion and Recommendations
While significant improvements have been made to the practices and conditions in the DCYH, many areas require further improvement to ensure that youth held in the DCYH are being treated with dignity and in accordance with DJJDP policy.
In addition to the previous recommendations found in the DRNC report Behind Locked Doors – Inside North Carolina’s Juvenile Detention Centers pertaining to the pre-existing education, recreation, and solitary confinement issues in the DCYH, DRNC recommends that the DCYH abide by DJJDP policy pertaining to phone call supervision and the use of strip searches.
Policy References
[1] Clark, A.B., Juvenile Solitary Confinement as a Form of Child Abuse, Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online, Sept. 2017, 45 (3) 350-357
[2] DJJDP Policy DC 1-3 2.6.1(1)
[3] DJJDP Policy DC 1-3 2.7
[4] DJJDP Policy DC 1-8(6)