Crowding at D.C. youth detention center draws criticism

The District's youth detention center in Northeast Washington, which is supposed to house no more than 88 juveniles, has had to cram as many as 156 into the facility in recent months, according to a report from The Post's Henri E. Cauvin.

From Cauvin's report:

The surge in detainees has strained space and staff at the Youth Services Center on Mount Olivet Road and has emerged as a critical roadblock in an effort to end a 25-year-old class action suit over the District's care of juveniles charged with crimes.

In recent years, the court monitor has reported progress by the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services in addressing some long-standing shortcomings. But persistent overcrowding at the detention center in Northeast and a string of security breakdowns at New Beginnings, the agency's new long-term detention center in Laurel, haven't helped the agency's effort to end court supervision.

Read the full article on The Post's web site.