§905. Rules and regulations; education; training and discipline; work opportunities;
vocational training; contracts and agreements; solitary confinement
A. Except as otherwise provided in laws and rules concerning oversight,
accountability, and quality control of educational services delivered in state juvenile justice
facilities, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of juvenile justice, shall
have full control of all juvenile institutions, facilities, and programs under its administration
and the affairs of such institutions, facilities, and programs and shall adopt all rules and
regulations which it deems essential to the proper conduct of these institutions, facilities, and
programs. All children in these juvenile institutions, facilities, and programs shall receive
appropriate treatment, training, and education commensurate with their needs and abilities.
In addition, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of juvenile justice, may
establish arts-based programming in these juvenile institutions, facilities, and programs
which may include but is not limited to performing arts, visual arts, and other arts activities
that enhance youth development. For the purposes of funding the arts-based programming,
the deputy secretary of the office of juvenile justice is authorized to receive, by appropriation,
gift, grant, donation, or otherwise, any sum of money, aid, or assistance from any person,
firm, or corporation or from the United States, its agencies, the state of Louisiana, or any
political subdivision of the state. The department may enter into contracts or cooperative
agreements to fulfill its obligations to accomplish its goals in the most efficient manner
possible.
B. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, except as otherwise
provided in laws and rules concerning oversight, accountability, and quality control of
educational services delivered in state juvenile justice facilities, the deputy secretary for
youth services shall establish all rules and regulations for the placement, care, and treatment
of a juvenile in the custody of the office of juvenile justice. Such rules and regulations shall
include:
(1) Provisions for reasonable access to each child in the custody of the office of
juvenile justice for defense counsel and for adequate and confidential meeting space in each
juvenile facility for defense counsel and children they represent.
(2) Provisions for direct, confidential, and readily accessible telephone or audio-visual connections between each child in the custody of the office of juvenile justice and
their defense counsel. Telephones and audio or visual connections to counsel shall be
available, by reasonable request on a daily basis, to each child in the custody of the office of
juvenile justice at no cost to the child or their family.
(3) For the purposes of this Subsection:
(a) A child is deemed "in the custody of the office of juvenile justice" if he is
judicially committed to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, youth services,
office of juvenile justice, regardless of where the child is physically held, including but not
limited to state-run secure facilities, state-run non-secure facilities, contracted facilities, and
detention centers.
(b) A "juvenile facility" is any facility in which a child judicially committed to the
office of juvenile justice is placed, whether the facility is run directly by the state or
contracted by any agency of the state.
C. Except as otherwise provided in laws and rules concerning oversight,
accountability, and quality control of educational services delivered in state juvenile justice
facilities, the deputy secretary for youth services shall have the sole authority to establish the
programmatic standards for juveniles assigned to the custody of the office of juvenile justice.
D. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, the office of juvenile
justice may enter into contracts or cooperative agreements in order to provide employment
and vocational training for juveniles in the custody of the office of juvenile justice as part of
the treatment plan for the juvenile. The deputy secretary for youth services shall establish
all rules and regulations necessary for the operation of such programs consistent with the
mission of the office of juvenile justice to protect public safety and to provide opportunities
for the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders.
E. Juveniles may be compensated, in accordance with the youth development policy
at rates fixed by the deputy secretary, for work performed, including facility maintenance,
attendance at training programs, and any other attendance, participation, or work deemed
appropriate by the deputy secretary.
F. No juvenile in the custody of the office of juvenile justice shall be placed in any
form of solitary confinement for any reason other than a temporary response to behavior that
poses a serious and immediate threat of physical harm to the juvenile or others.
(1) For the purposes of this Subsection, "solitary confinement" shall mean the
involuntary placement of a juvenile alone in a cell, room, or other area, except during
regularly scheduled sleeping hours. It includes but is not limited to any behavioral
intervention, seclusion, isolation, room isolation, segregation, administrative segregation, or
room confinement in response to rule violations, staffing shortages, or for any other reason
that is not an emergency response to behavior that poses a serious and immediate threat of
physical harm to the juvenile or others.
(2)(a) A juvenile shall not be placed in solitary confinement for the purposes of
discipline, punishment, administrative convenience, retaliation, protective custody, suicide
intervention, general behavior management that is not a response to a serious and immediate
threat of physical harm to the juvenile or others, rule violations, in response to staffing
shortages, or for any other reason that is not an emergency response to behavior that poses
a serious and immediate threat of physical harm to the juvenile or others.
(b) Under no circumstance shall a juvenile who has expressed suicidal ideations or
attempted suicide be placed in solitary confinement.
(3) A juvenile may be held in solitary confinement only under either of the following
conditions:
(a) Progressive protocols, beginning with verbal calming and other de-escalation
techniques attempted by facility staff, have proven unsuccessful at resolving the imminent
threat of physical harm.
(b) There is a need to eliminate the serious and immediate risk of physical harm to
the juvenile or others.
(4)(a) All protocols and techniques provided in Subparagraph (3)(a) of this
Subsection shall be documented, along with an explanation of why solitary confinement was
ultimately deemed necessary.
(b) A juvenile placed in solitary confinement pursuant to Subparagraph (3)(b) of this
Subsection shall be released from solitary confinement as soon as the serious and immediate
risk of physical harm to self or others is resolved.
(5) A juvenile shall be held in solitary confinement only for a period that does not
compromise or harm his physical health or mental health, as determined by a mental health
practitioner.
(a) Except as provided in this Paragraph, no period of solitary confinement shall
exceed eight hours.
(b) After eight hours, the juvenile shall be returned to the general population. If a
mental health professional determines that the juvenile continues to pose a serious and
immediate threat of physical harm to the juvenile or others after eight hours, the juvenile may
be transported to a mental health facility upon the recommendation of a mental health
professional, or the facility staff shall implement a mental health crisis plan that allows for
the juvenile to return to the general population safely.
(c) If, after an in-person evaluation by a mental health professional at the facility, it
is determined that these options are not practicable, the juvenile may be placed into solitary
confinement for an additional period of time not to exceed eight-hour increments only upon
recommendation of the mental health professional.
(i) Each additional eight-hour increment shall be preceded by an additional
evaluation by a mental health professional and a recommendation by the mental health
professional that the juvenile may continue to be placed into solitary confinement.
(ii) Under no circumstances shall the juvenile who has been evaluated pursuant to
this Subparagraph be held in solitary confinement for longer than twenty-four hours.
(6) The use of consecutive periods of room confinement to avoid the intent and
purpose of this Subsection is prohibited.
(7) All instances of solitary confinement shall be approved immediately by the
facility director, deputy director, or the supervisor with the highest level of authority who is
present at the facility at the time, and only after consultation with a qualified mental health
practitioner who has spoken with the juvenile. Approval shall be reaffirmed every hour
thereafter.
(a) The facility director, deputy director, or the supervisor with the highest level of
authority who is present at the facility at the time shall immediately notify the deputy
secretary and the senior administrative team any time a juvenile is placed in solitary
confinement.
(b) Within two hours of placing a juvenile in solitary confinement, the facility shall
contact the juvenile's parent or guardian and the juvenile's attorney of record to provide
notice that the juvenile was placed in solitary confinement and the reason for the
confinement.
(8) Juveniles in solitary confinement shall be continuously monitored. Facility staff
shall engage in continued crisis intervention and de-escalation techniques and make visual
and verbal contact with each youth in solitary confinement at least every ten minutes. The
intent and purpose of this intervention is to help de-escalate the juvenile's behavior so the
juvenile can rejoin the general population as soon as possible. Staff shall document the time
and nature of the observation and interventions.
(9) Within the first hour of solitary confinement and every hour thereafter, a qualified
mental health practitioner shall speak to the juvenile to help the juvenile de-escalate and exit
solitary confinement as soon as possible.
(10) Staff shall return the juvenile to programming as soon as the juvenile has
regained self-control and is no longer engaging in behavior that threatens serious and
immediate harm to himself or others. If necessary, staff may return the juvenile to a separate
area other than a cell or other isolated space where staff can help the juvenile self-regulate
and become ready to return to the general population.
(11) All rooms used for solitary confinement shall have adequate and operating
lighting, heating and cooling, and ventilation for the comfort of the juvenile. Rooms shall
be clean and resistant to suicide and self-harm.
(12) Juveniles in solitary confinement shall have access to all of the following:
(a) Sunlight.
(b) Drinking water.
(c) Toilet facilities.
(d) Working showers.
(e) Hygiene supplies.
(f) Mattresses
(g) Reading materials.
(h) Meals.
(i) Contact with parents or legal guardians.
(j) Legal assistance.
(k) Educational programming.
(l) Appropriate medical and mental health services, which shall be provided by
mental health staff as needed.
(13) Every instance of solitary confinement shall be documented electronically and
in the aggregate. Unidentified data on the frequency and length of time that the juvenile
spends in solitary confinement shall be available upon request as a public record.
Documentation of the solitary confinement shall include all of the following:
(a) The date of the occurrence.
(b) The race, ethnicity, age, gender, and disability status of the juvenile.
(c) The reason for the juvenile's placement in solitary confinement.
(d) An explanation of why less restrictive means for placement were unsuccessful.
(e) The ultimate duration of the juvenile's placement in solitary confinement.
(f) Facility staffing levels at the time of the juvenile's confinement.
(g) Any incidents of self-harm, suicide attempts, or suicide committed by the
juvenile while the juvenile was confined and where the juvenile was placed after leaving
solitary confinement.
(14)(a) The office of juvenile justice shall submit a report on the use of solitary
confinement quarterly to the Juvenile Justice Reform Act Commission. This report shall
include all of the following:
(i) The length of time each juvenile was in solitary confinement.
(ii) The race, ethnicity, age, gender, and disability status of each juvenile placed in
solitary confinement.
(iii) The facility staffing levels at the time of the juvenile's confinement.
(iv) The reason each juvenile was placed in confinement, and where the juvenile was
placed after leaving solitary confinement.
(b) All of the following shall be included in the report:
(i) Each instance of solitary confinement exceeding eight hours, including all reasons
why attempts to return the juvenile to the general population of the facility were
unsuccessful.
(ii) All corrective measures taken in response to noncompliance with this Subsection.
(iii) Redacted personal identifying information that provides individual, not
aggregate data.
(c) The initial quarterly report shall be submitted within two weeks after the quarter
ending on September 30, 2022. Subsequent reports shall be submitted for the ensuing
quarters within two weeks after the end of each quarter.
(d) The office of juvenile justice shall post a report on the use of solitary
confinement on its website quarterly with deidentified aggregate data including but not
limited to all of the following:
(i) Total number of juveniles placed in solitary confinement that quarter.
(ii) Race and ethnicity, age, and gender of juveniles placed in solitary confinement.
(iii) Disability status of juveniles placed in solitary confinement.
(iv) Number of instances of solitary confinement exceeding eight hours.
(v) Number of instances, if any, of self-harm while in solitary confinement.
(vi) Number of instances, if any, of suicide attempts while in solitary confinement.
(vii) Number of instances, if any, of suicides while in solitary confinement.
(e) Data shall be disaggregated by facility.
(15) All agency staff shall be trained on the appropriate use of solitary confinement
during their initial training to work at the office of juvenile justice and subsequently at
regular intervals. Staff shall be required to demonstrate proficiency with decisions regarding
when and how to use solitary confinement before completing their initial training to work
in office of juvenile justice facilities and ongoing during their employment.
(16) Every juvenile placed in the custody of the office of juvenile justice shall
receive an explanation on the solitary confinement policy by staff promptly upon arrival to
a facility, and information on this policy shall be communicated to the juvenile's parents or
guardians through the most direct means possible, with in-person communication being most
preferable.