Reducing Isolation, A Report on the Key Findings of National Isolation Data

• NCJ Number: 306412
• Author(s): Kim Godfrey
• Date Published: June 2019
• Length: 4 pages
• Agencies: OJJDP-Sponsored

Annotation

This report provides the key findings from data on the effects of isolation and room confinement, specifically among youth.

Abstract

This report presents the Performance-based Standards (PbS) data on the effects and use of isolation, also known as solitary confinement, room confinement, seclusion, or segregation, on young offenders. The report provides a historical overview of the practice and how PbS has been working to reduce the use of isolation and room confinement since its launch in 1995 by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and it discusses isolation data. Key findings indicate that use of isolation is increasing but the average duration is decreasing; most youths are put in isolation as a consequence for a rule violation; and youths sleep for an average of nine hours at night and spend over one hour of the day confined to their sleeping rooms.