Overview
- An Office of the Child Protection Ombudsman review of 1,009 reasonable-suspicion searches from 2023 to 2025 found policy violations in 1,006 cases across state youth centers.
- Frequent lapses included missing administrator approval, use of a single staffer despite a two-person requirement, and absent documentation of the basis or outcome of searches.
- Contraband was found in roughly 10% of reviewed searches, with examples including a youth searched three times in one day and another held alone for more than 10 hours before consenting.
- Handwritten logs served as the primary records and were often incomplete, prompting recommendations for electronic tracking and expanded Quality Assurance reviews beyond admission searches.
- The Division of Youth Services says it revised policies in 2024 to clarify documentation and reasonable suspicion and will investigate adherence in response to the findings.