State audit: NYC juvenile detention centers over capacity, overtime quadrupled and stays nearly doubled

New York City's two juvenile detention centers are holding far more young people than they were built for, staff overtime has quadrupled, and the average stay has nearly doubled, according to a new audit by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli first reported by THE CITY.

The 69-page review covers 2019 through fiscal year 2026 at Horizon Juvenile Center in the Bronx and Crossroads Juvenile Center in Brooklyn, both run by the Administration for Children's Services (ACS). It also found the number of city probation officers fell by about one-third from 2020 to 2026 even as juvenile caseloads grew, THE CITY reported.

DiNapoli said the city "is spending more money to keep young people in detention, and they are staying there longer," and urged it to tackle staffing and crowding and to invest in prevention such as after-school programs, mentoring and summer jobs.

How crowded it is

• Beds vs. youth: Horizon has 123 bedrooms and Crossroads 122, ACS Commissioner Rebecca Jones Gaston told the City Council at an Oct. 27 hearing. On Oct. 23 the two centers held 352 young people, 174 at Horizon and 178 at Crossroads.
• Where they sleep: most youth without a bedroom sleep in their hall's common area, and a smaller number in classrooms or the chapel, ACS testified. Earlier this month a state oversight agency stopped granting the waivers that let ACS use those spaces as housing, THE CITY reported.
• Who is held: the median age was 17, only 26 were 15 or younger, and 346 of the 352 faced charges as adolescent or juvenile offenders in the Supreme Court Youth Part, according to ACS.

Why it got here

The state's Raise the Age law moved 16- and 17-year-olds out of adult jails on Rikers Island and into the ACS centers starting in 2018. ACS says that since 2022 admissions have risen and young people are older, face more serious charges and stay longer while their cases move through court. A 2024 city Department of Investigation report found the centers' points-based behavior system had failed to curb violence and contraband, THE CITY noted.

What the city says it is doing

• More staff: ACS told the Council it has hired 166 youth development specialists and 52 special officers since the Mamdani administration began, and THE CITY reported plans for 56 more specialists and 85 emergency-response workers.
• Alternatives: a new Probation intensive community monitoring program for about 150 young people leaving or at risk of secure detention, more family therapy and community programs, and nonsecure "step-down" detention when judges allow it.
• Space: a 56-bedroom annex at Horizon, now expected by the end of 2027 instead of 2029, and planned auxiliary housing at Crossroads with 28 bedrooms, according to ACS. Trailers are adding two classrooms at Crossroads.
• Contraband: new handheld and mobile X-ray scanners, metal detectors and cameras.

The Council is weighing bills that would create a guide to alternatives to detention for judges and lawyers (Int. 447) and teams to review every detained young person's case for early release (Int. 629).