New York Impedes Department of Justice Juvenile Custodial Sexual Abuse Analysis

by Mark Wilson

Ten percent of New York juvenile offenders reported being sexually abused while in custody in 2010, which was consistent with the 12 percent national average. In 2013 the number dropped to zero, but only because New York officials prevented federal officials from conducting an accurate survey of juvenile offenders.

New York’s Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), which runs the state's juvenile facilities, imposed requirements ‘‘unlike any other state we had to deal with," said Allen Beck, senior statistical advisor for the United States Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).

OCFS required written consent from a parent or guardian before BJS officials could ask a juvenile to participate in the anonymous survey. In 2010, OCFS provided a way for researchers obtain parental consent without first receiving juvenile consent to contact their parent or guardian, consistent with every other state’s practice. In 2013, however, OCFS refused to provide parental contact information without first obtaining the child’s written consent to release the address, creating what Beck described as a “Catch-22."

Researchers were effectively forced to obtain the youth's approval on two separate occasions. This “consent loop” required randomly selected youths to consent to their parents being asked if they could later be asked to participate in the anonymous survey, which consisted of a self-administered computer-assisted interview.

“I’m sure I told them that this would reduce the likelihood of getting consent,” said Tim Smith, senior study director at Westat, the data collection agency contracted by BJS. “My recollection is that they recognized that.”

State officials were unapologetic. “OCFS followed federal and state requirements regarding participation by minors in state or local custody in outside research and studies, which requires obtaining not only the youth’s consent but also the consent of the youth's parents or legal guardians,” said OCFS spokeswoman Jennifer Givner.

OCFS was simply “trying to be protective of the youth in their custody,” Smith acknowledged. They were “cooperative, within the framework that this was the process that was required.”

In 2010, some New York juvenile facilities reported much higher rates of sexual abuse than the national average. For example, the Allen Residential Center, a male facility in South Kortright, reported a 25 percent victimization rate and the now-closed Tryon Girls Residential Center, in Johnstown, reported a 33 percent abuse rate.

In 2013, however, BJS obtained a single digit response rate for six of New York’s 13 facilities, and researchers were unable to interview anyone at four facilities. This resulted in insufficient data to make an estimate about the prevalence of New York juvenile facility sexual abuse.

Still, given that New York generally mirrored the national average in 2010, it likely does so again in 2013. If so, New York officials should be alarmed.

Nationally, one in five juveniles reported being sexually abused by a staff member on more than ten occasions in 2013. This was most commonly reported as a male youth being abused by a female staff member, according to the survey.

Although researchers could not offer an accurate estimate for New York, they did not omit the data from their report. “We made a decision to leave them in and report what we found,” Beck said. “It’s up to others to decide if those numbers are, in fact, meaningful.”

Source: www.timesunion.com

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