Policy Statement on Transgender Youth in Juvenile Legal and other Correctional Systems
Background
Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) youth are at increased risk for bullying, harassment, and physical assault as compared to their cisgender peers. They also have a higher incidence of suicide attempts. Due to their increased rates of victimization and maltreatment, and consistent with National Commission on Correctional Health Care recommendations, juvenile detention and other correctional systems should address the unique safety and healthcare management needs of TGD youth.
At times, juvenile detention and correctional facilities have housed TGD youth according to their sex assigned at birth and/or their genitals rather than according to their gender identity and presentation. Similarly, facilities that lack accommodations for TGD youth have segregated or isolated these individuals due to resource limitations. These practices expose such TGD youth to considerable and undue harm that is unjust and unlawful.
Additionally, TGD youth have unique mental and physical healthcare needs that must be addressed while they are detained within the juvenile legal and correctional systems. The medical and psychiatric management of gender dysphoria and its sequelae are highly individualized and as such require access to clinical consultants with expertise in this area. Such services should be available to all incarcerated individuals just as any other aspect of their physical or mental health would be supported.
To support the mental and physical healthcare needs of transgender youth in juvenile legal and other correctional systems, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry recommends:
- Detention and corrections staff classify and house all youth consistent with their gender identity, as the youth defines it.
- Facilities take the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of every youth in their custody, including TGD youth, based on individualized risk assessments.
- All youths should be referred to by their chosen pronoun and name.
- Absent serious immediate safety concerns, TGD youth should not be segregated, isolated, or placed in solitary confinement due to resource limitations. As such, TGD youth must have access to all educational and recreational programs and services available to the general youth population.
- TGD youth in correctional systems are entitled to access comprehensive psychiatric and other medical care consistent with prevailing national standards and guidelines.