Long Creek Youth Development Center

Long Creek Youth Development Center said it doesn’t “currently” house employees at the STEPS House, designed for use of girls.

As part of our tour of Maine prisons and jails, some of us visited Long Creek Youth Development Center. The facility in South Portland, houses up to 163 of Maine’s juvenile offenders, including a

The lawsuit targets the Maine Department of Corrections, which is tasked with rehabilitating juveniles at the Long Creek Youth Development Center; instead, a former resident alleges, staff subjected him to cruel and unusual punishment.

Alexander Mascal says he experienced excessive isolation, unnecessary use of force and restraint, and was sexually abused while at the Mountain View and Long Creek youth development centers from 2012 to 2016.

Advocates came closer than ever to closing the state’s only youth prison during the last legislative session, winning support in the House and Senate, only to face a veto from Gov. Mills.

Though at least 2 officers could face criminal charges, Commissioner Randy Liberty put much of the blame for the recent turmoil on incarcerated youths.

Charles Knowles killed himself at the youth detention center, prompting scrutiny of how Long Creek treats LGBTQ youths and how well it protects young people with mental health problems.

The measure would also prohibit courts from detaining juveniles solely because they can’t be sent home, but critics say it doesn’t go far enough.

The Maine Juvenile Justice Advisory Group has hired the Center for Children’s Law and Policy to evaluate Maine’s system and recommend changes.

Disability Rights Maine sued last year to get the records during an investigation into the state’s only juvenile detention facility, where 5 suicide attempts were reported in a 3-month span.

Matthew Keene of Standish was held at the Maine Youth Center, now called Long Creek Youth Development Center, from 1995 to 1999.

Down East Magazine

The lawsuit alleges that Maine segregates children with behavioral disabilities in hospitals, residential facilities and the Long Creek Youth Development Center.

As another state commission looks into what to do with Maine’s last youth prison, Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland, a group of system-impacted youth have some demands. They want to close the juvenile detention center and repurpose the facility’s $17.5 million operating budget towards small, community-based residential centers. They say Long Creek

Maine lawmakers hoped to be in the vanguard of a national movement to transform how governments deal with teenagers who break the law.

The House rejects a bill that would allow police to resume temporary detentions of juveniles for less serious crimes, with Democrats calling for more services to support at-risk youth.

Legislators gutted a bill originally aimed at limiting some use-of-force techniques at the youth prison, and now seek a timeline to close the facility entirely.

Authorities say no one was injured but property was damaged in the incident Sunday night at the state’s Long Creek Youth Development Center.

Prosecutors are considering charges against multiple corrections officers at the Long Creek Youth Development Center, say lawmakers who were briefed this week.

A bill would gradually reduce the number of young people held at the Long Creek Youth Development Center, without setting a date to close it.

Preliminary findings by the Center for Children’s Law and Policy show that 53% of detained youths were held because the state lacked alternative places to house them safely.

An attorney is fighting to get the boy out of the Long Creek Youth Development Center, but the state argues that he can be detained while officials search for the right placement for his mental health needs.

We are calling for the closure of Long Creek Youth Development Center, Maine’s last youth prison, and the reinvestment of millions into our communities. Get Involved Learn More We believe that safety comes through strengthening communities, addressing the root causes of harm, and promoting individual and collective well being, not incarceration. Learn More Maine […]

The controversial and dangerous tactic involves putting youth on their stomachs in a prone position and applying pressure to their backs which can cause asphyxiation. That use of that force is now the subject of an investigation.

The report, which was commissioned by the Maine Department of Corrections, laid out 10 factors leading to violence and strife at the facility, including overzealous behavior of staff, an overly stringent disciplinary system, unclear use of force policies and a lack of involvement of mental health clinicians in conflict situations.

Members of the MSEA Local 1989 union say understaffing and under-resourcing is causing “dire safety and security concerns” among staff at the juvenile detention center.

The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics reports approximately 9.1% of teens at Long Creek Youth Development Center reported experiencing sexual victimization in 2018.

Employees at Long Creek Youth Development Center were allowed to sleep in a housing unit meant for female inmates so they could cut down on long commutes.

Michelle Knowles, of North Vassalboro, filed the federal lawsuit against the Maine Department of Corrections in April.

The report describes a dysfunctional, toxic situation at Maine’s only youth prison that led up to seven critical incidents starting this summer.

Disability Rights Maine wrote to the Department of Corrections to raise the alarm about recent reports of prone restraints at the Long Creek Youth Development Center.

Mills also moved to block a bill inspired by Hydro-Quebec’s spending on a potential ballot initiative in Maine.

The measure would also eliminate the minimum stay for youths committed to the state’s only youth detention center, and would commit no one younger than age 14.

The young man’s name is Matt and as far as he’s concerned, the Long Creek Youth Development Center ought to be completely dismantled. Pull down the thick steel doors, he suggested, and rip down bars wherever they are found. “Maybe even repurpose it,” the 17-year-old suggested, “and make it into some sort of […]

Chief Justice Leigh Saufley tells the task force that the work of creating alternatives to incarcerating youths at the Long Creek Youth Development Center is unfinished business begun a decade ago.

Even as fewer teens are being prosecuted, the state is not providing enough intervention, rehabilitation and other help.

A former juvenile inmate has filed a lawsuit alleging mistreatment stretching back to the 1990s at the facility today known as Long Creek Juvenile…

The ongoing atrocity of Maine’s prison for traumatized children