What does juvenile detention look like to you? You’re probably picturing boys fighting, vandalizing, maybe being locked up for something serious. But it’s always boys that people see, isn’t it? Hardly anyone pictures a 15-year-old girl who is detained because she ran away from an abusive home. She’s sitting in a cell, miserable, alone, and with no one trained to help her.
That second picture is more common in California than you think. Girls who end up in custody often aren’t even dangerous but the system doesn’t know what else to do with them so they lock them up. A lot of them have lived through violence, exploitation, and neglect before the state put them in detention. And when they end up inside, that trauma stays with them because it gets ignored, punished, sometimes even worsened.
Before you say that this is a policy failure, take a moment and think it through. In reality, this is a reflection of how the system sees these girls.
Or, should we say, ‘doesn’t’.
How California’s Juvenile System Fails Girls
In California, girls make up about 25% of all juvenile arrest cases and not all of them end up in detention, so you can see why girls are treated as an afterthought when it comes to building these systems.
That number is by no means an excuse, but it is one of the reasons.
From the start, most facilities and policies are designed around boys – how they behave, what offenses they commit, and what kind of programs they need. So when girls enter the system, they’re often placed in environments that aren’t a good fit.
Many of them end up detained for non-violent offenses like running away, skipping school, or breaking curfew. But those offenses (if they can be called that) usually point to deeper issues like abuse at home, neglect, or survival tactics. And instead of getting help, they get locked up.
Most of these girls come into custody with heavy trauma and facilities are aware of that. Unfortunately, only a few of them have the kind of mental health support or therapy the girls need. Medical screenings are basic, therapy is inconsistent, and programs that focus on recovery from abuse are very rare.
On top of that, most staff members aren’t trained to handle these situations. Sometimes, they’re indifferent; other times, they make matters worse. There are many reports of unaddressed complaints, unreported abuse, and girls being placed in isolation instead of getting help.
Conditions inside can also be degrading. The living spaces are often filthy, privacy is hardly there, and of course, we can’t forget about punishment practices. All of this takes a serious toll on mental health.
Facilities in southern California, in particular, have already faced scrutiny, especially following legal action surrounding the San Diego Girls Rehabilitation Facility sexual abuse case. These issues aren’t isolated. Instead, they’re signs that the system still has no idea how to care for the girls it claims to be rehabilitating.
What Needs to Change
Obviously, the biggest issue is that California’s juvenile system simply wasn’t built with girls in mind. If we want to see real change, then we have to rethink how we support them from the inside out.
Here are some urgent things that need to be revised:
- Start with the Trauma, Not the Behavior
Most girls in custody have been through serious trauma, but the system focuses only on how they act and why. Instead of punishment, they need structure, safety, and support from people who can understand what they’ve been through.
That’s what trauma-informed care is and it’s nowhere to be found in most places.
- Train Staff to Actually Understand Girls
How can you support someone if you don’t know what they’re dealing with? Staff need to know how trauma shows up in girls and how it affects their trust, emotions, and behavior.
Without that, even basic interactions can go wrong and make an already bad situation far worse.
- Independent Oversight
There’s no point in facilities being the only ones investigating themselves in cases of abuse or neglect. Independent oversight brings in someone from the outside, who isn’t tied to the system, and who can speak up when things go wrong.
This pressure from the outside is how change starts.
- Help Shouldn’t Stop After Release
Girls don’t magically stop needing support once they get out. A lot of them go back home to the same chaos they tried to escape so, if there’s no help, they’ll just fall through the cracks again.
The system should help them stay on track, not just set them loose.
Conclusion
If you want to learn about how society works, look at how it’s treating its most vulnerable people. It’s the same with the juvenile detention system – look at how it’s treating girls and you know all there is to know. It doesn’t take rocket science to fix things, though.
It just takes someone who’s willing to listen to what they’ve gone through, support them. Basically, someone who doesn’t act like locking them up is a solution to anything.
