The city’s two juvenile detention centers are operating far beyond capacity, staff overtime has quadrupled and the average length of detention has nearly doubled, according to a new state audit.
The 69-page review also found that the number of probation officers declined by one-third between 2020 and 2026, even as juvenile caseloads increased.
“New York City is spending more money to keep young people in detention, and they are staying there longer,” state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a statement.
“The city needs to address staffing shortages and overcrowding and also invest in prevention efforts, including after-school programs, mentoring and summer jobs, to give young people more opportunities and help keep them out of the juvenile justice system.”
Overcrowding at the two facilities has gotten so bad the city has been forced to use classroom space as housing units. Earlier this month, a state oversight agency stopped issuing waivers to allow ACS to use those common areas for housing.
The report — which covers 2019 through fiscal year 2026 — comes weeks after the Mamdani administration announced a series of changes aimed at addressing problems at the beleaguered facilities, Horizon and Crossroads.
The Administration for Children’s Services, which oversees the centers, says it is expanding alternatives to detention, increasing staffing and investing in educational and recreational programming.
Among the initiatives is a new intensive community monitoring program through the Department of Probation that will combine closer supervision with clinical assessments, family engagement, educational and employment assistance, and other community-based services. The program is intended to serve 150 young people who are transitioning out of secure detention or at risk of being placed there.
The administration is also increasing funding for community-based programs, expanding access to family therapy and making nonsecure detention available to some young people whom judges determine are appropriate candidates for a less restrictive setting.
ACS also announced plans to hire 56 additional youth development specialists and 85 employees dedicated to emergency response at Horizon and Crossroads.
The agency said it is investing in scanners, metal detectors and cameras to prevent contraband from entering the facilities, while expediting renovations and the installation of temporary classrooms to create more room for educational programming.
The state audit comes nearly ten years after state lawmakers passed the Raise the Age Law to transition 16- and 17-year-olds from the adult to juvenile criminal justice system.
In New York City, that meant transferring them from Department of Correction-run adult housing units on Rikers Island to the two secure detention centers operated by ACS.
But the department has struggled to staff and operate the centers as the number of young people facing criminal charges has ballooned over the past several years, according to a series of oversight reports and court filings.
In October 2024 the city’s Department of Investigation concluded that ACS’s point-based system to reward and punish the behavior of incarcerated youths, known as a behavioral management tool, had failed to adequately deter violence and contraband smuggling.
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