ACLU demands action following attempted suicide, death of teen at DJJ facility

The American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina is demanding action after the death of a teen at the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice facility on Broad River Road in Columbia.

“We cannot risk more of our children’s lives,” said Jace Woodrum, executive director of the ACLU of South Carolina.

On Wednesday, the DJJ confirmed that a child held at the Broad River Road Complex, the department’s long-term commitment facility, was transported to the hospital on Monday night. The department announced on Thursday that a 16-year-old male died at a local hospital Wednesday afternoon following a suicide attempt at the Willow Lane Infirmary.

The ACLU called the death “tragic and inexcusable.”

“This death is devastating. But tragedies such as this one are not surprising — they are the inevitable consequence of years of systemic failures by the State of South Carolina,” Woodrum said. “The plain truth is that we egregiously over-incarcerate children, many times for non-criminal offenses like truancy or running away. As a result, our juvenile detention facilities — required by state law to be ‘rehabilitative’ — are anything but.”

Woodrum said that meaningful rehabilitation is impossible without “radical reform.”

The ACLU is asking that the state stop arresting and incarcerating children, especially for offenses like truancy, running away or underage drinking, and to release the nonviolent children who are already in custody.

The ACLU also accused the DJJ of overcrowded conditions, understaffing, lack of mental health care and a “myriad of other failures” that create “torturous” conditions.

“Such conditions spark tragedy,” Woodrum said. “There will assuredly be others.”

For example, the Juvenile Detention Center — the DJJ’s pre-trial facility — was built to accommodate 72 children. But recent records showed that 130 South Carolina children were currently housed there awaiting trial, according to the ACLU.

From January 2023 to October 2023, the average daily population there was about 116 — “well above” its capacity, said DJJ spokesperson Michelle Foster. An increase in juvenile crime after the pandemic has exacerbated already existing issues.

“Like the ACLU, SCDJJ desires for youth to be housed in safe and appropriate facilities with access to meaningful rehabilitative services,” Foster said. “The agency has been very vocal to all stakeholders about this issue.”

Renovations slated for the pre-trial facility have been delayed, Foster said, though renovations at the Broad River Road Campus and the Midlands Evaluation Center are underway.

The ACLU, along with others, brought legal action against the Department of Juvenile Justice in SCNAACP v. SC Department of Juvenile Justice, a lawsuit filed in April 2022. It detailed the unsafe conditions at DJJ facilities, like human waste in sleeping quarters, rancid food and keeping some children in solitary confinement for days on end.

The suit demanded that the state fulfill the basic needs of the children in its care, including “clean water, dry beds, healthy food, safety from violence, freedom from solitary confinement, meaningful access to education and mental health resources, and accommodations for children with disabilities.”

Following a 2021 audit of the agency, the South Carolina Legislative Audit Council found that DJJ facilities were understaffed, employees were poorly trained and the children in their cares were left untreated and unsupervised.

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of self-harm or suicide, the National Suicide Prevention line number is 988.