Education and Conditions in Juvenile Detention Remain Poor, Advocates Say

Mayes’ testimony was among many chilling accounts delivered at Thursday’s council hearing, which focused on conditions at youth placement facilities. The hearing comes 19 months after a guard at a residential facility for troubled children in West Philadelphia killed 17-year-old David Hess. It also comes amid a steep drop in the number of children sent to these facilities, either by the courts or through the child welfare system.