Lessons from Disaster: Assessing the COVID-19 Response in Youth Jails & Prisons*
Madalyn K. Wasilczuk** Full Article. I. COVID-19 in Youth Jails and Prisons A. The Spread of COVID-19 in Youth Facilities B. Responses to COVID-19 in the Juvenile Legal System C. Race and Disability Disparities in Youth Facilities During COVID-19 II. COVID-19 as a Disaster III. Assessing the Pandemic Response In Youth Jails & Prisons A. Confined Children’s Vulnerability to the COVID Disaster B. Applying Lessons from Disaster to Children’s Conditions of Confinement Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare many of the cruel and inhumane conditions that persist in U.S. jails and prisons.[1] Headlines have highlighted the lack of access to adequate cleaning supplies and personal hygiene materials, restrictions on hand sanitizer, under-resourced medical facilities, and the costliness of phone calls and video visits for people in custody.[2] Jails,…