Youth detention center

In the US criminal justice system, a youth detention center (YDC) may also be referred to as a juvenile detention center (JDC), juvenile detention, juvenile jail, juvenile hall, observation home and a remand home. Colloquially it is often referred to as "juvie". A YDC or JDC is a prison for youth offenders under the age of 18, also legally referred to as minors or under the age of majority. Juvenile offenders are tried in juvenile court, which is a separate system for youth offenders. After arrest as well as depending upon many factors, such as the frequency and nature of their crimes, juveniles either await trial or placement in a long-term care program, with the goal of rehabilitation.

Some juveniles are released directly back into the community and must undergo community-based rehabilitative programs. Those offenders who are determined by the court to pose a greater threat to society and to themselves are sentenced to a full-time, supervised juvenile detention center. If a juvenile is sent to a juvenile detention center, there are two types of facilities: secure detention and secure confinement.

Secure detention means that juveniles are held for usually short periods of time in facilities in order to await current trial hearings and further placement decisions. By holding juveniles in secure detention, it ensures their appearance in court and also keeps the community safe. This type of facility is usually called "juvenile hall" ("juvie"), which is a holding center for juvenile delinquents. On the other hand, secure confinement implies that the juvenile has been committed by the court into the custody of a secure juvenile correctional facility for the duration of a specific program, which can span from a few months to many years.

Juvenile detention is not intended to be punitive. The goal of secure custody is to provide the offenders with care consistent with the doctrine of parens patriae, or "the state as parent". The state or local jurisdiction is usually responsible for providing education, recreation, health care, assessment, counseling and other intervention services with the intent of maintaining a youth's well-being during their stay in custody.

Generally speaking, secure detention is reserved for juveniles considered to be a threat to public safety or the court process, though in many cases, youths are held for violating a court order. Status offenders, i.e., juveniles charged with running away from home, alcohol possession, and other offenses that are not crimes if committed by adults, may only be held for 24 hours or less, while initial case investigation is completed, and other alternatives are arranged.

There does not currently exist a uniform, cohesive definition for juvenile residential treatment programs. Within the categories of secure detention and secure confinement for juveniles, the overarching name of these facilities is "residential programs". Five overarching types of residential programs where a juvenile may be placed while in court custody are: The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention found the five types of residential programs for juveniles to be a broad range, which included detention, corrections, camp, community based, and residential treatment. The wide variety in juvenile placement options is due to the lack of a uniform definition of these residential treatment programs. Without a federal, uniform definition, this creates a lack of uniformity across all 50 states and the diverse and often confusing names for centers for "secure detention" and "secure confinement" for juvenile offenders.