Before they’re ever seen as students, leaders, or changemakers, too many youth impacted by the juvenile justice system are viewed as problems to be punished, not as young people worth protecting.
One of the clearest examples of this dehumanization is the practice of 23-and-1: a form of solitary confinement where youth are locked in their cells for 23 hours a day, with only one hour for recreation or basic hygiene. This kind of prolonged isolation causes severe mental, emotional and physical harm. It deprives youth of the community, connection and care they need to grow. Instead of offering healing, it retraumatizes and silences those who most need to be heard.
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On Oct. 1, control of the Youth Justice and Education Center officially shifted from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office to the Shelby County Division of Corrections. While there was one public meeting before the transition took place, it did not come with a detailed plan, a timeline, or public commitments to end harmful practices.
At that meeting, Trekeria Rainey, a member of the Youth Justice Action Council, spoke out about her own experience in the juvenile detention center. When confronted, Sheriff Floyd Bonner denied that children were being kept in solitary confinement.
From firsthand accounts and investigative reporting, we know that youth were regularly placed in D-pod and H-pod for 23 or more hours a day — often not for safety reasons, but as punishment. This approach to discipline doesn’t teach accountability; it strips away hope and reinforces cycles of powerlessness.
Solitary confinement also cuts off access to education. Youth in isolation are frequently denied schooling altogether. Shelby County’s juvenile justice system is not only harming our youth but failing them in the most basic ways.
Anthony Alexander, director of the Division of Corrections, has publicly stated that his department will never use solitary confinement. That promise matters, but only if it’s honored.
Ending solitary confinement means shutting down D-pod and H-pod as isolation units, breaking the cycle of retraumatization. It means guaranteeing every young person has access to quality education, mental health care, and programming that supports healing and growth. It means involving youth, families, and communities in shaping a safer, more supportive facility.
YJAC’s campaign to end solitary confinement called for a detailed, public-facing transition plan that incorporates youth input, eliminates harmful practices, retrains staff, and builds real accountability. In recent meetings that included local stakeholders and nonprofit organizations, the Division of Corrections presented plans that included promising steps, like a proposed Youth Action Council within the facility. The department has promised to hold public meetings to share updates and data, particularly around solitary confinement.
Despite these steps, one major piece is still missing: Youth with lived experience have not yet been invited to the table. That must change.
We need more than internal assurances. We need a public, unequivocal commitment to end solitary confinement and to include youth at every stage of this transition. Additionally, we need independent oversight to ensure that ethical standards are maintained, no matter who manages or works in the detention center.
As community members, advocates, and decision-makers, we have a responsibility to stand with young people — not isolate them. Justice delayed is futures denied. The time to speak out and dismantle harm is now.
Naya Chadwick is a student organizing Social Work major at Jackson State University and Stand For Children intern dedicated to advancing youth justice and empowerment for system-impacted youth.
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