Sleeping Rough in a D.C. Juvenile Center

Dogs in animal shelters have it better. At least they sleep alone at night.

The same cannot be said of the young people detained at the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services' Youth Services Center in Northeast.

That 80-bed facility is so crowded that as recently as last week, as many as 10 youths had to sleep together in Room 1600, a 23-by-34-foot space.

What's more, on any given night, juveniles can be found sleeping in areas that house the center's medical office (10 by 14 feet) and the intake office (10 by 13 feet).

These sleeping arrangements violate a Superior Court-approved plan that the city negotiated as the result of a consent decree. Under the plan, the population of the Youth Services Center (YSC) is allowed to increase to 88 people, each in single rooms, and may rise to 96 for up to seven nights per month.

The facts, contained in YSC daily population reports that I obtained from a D.C. government source, say otherwise:

· Nov. 8: regular population 108, including two residents sleeping in room 1600.

· Nov. 10: regular population 122, plus six overnighters. Ten residents sleeping in Room 1600; four sleeping in the intake office; and one in the medical unit.

· Nov. 12: regular population 120, including nine sleeping in room 1600 and seven overnighters in the intake office.