In a report for the New York Times, Megan Shutzer and Rachel Lauren Mueller tackle a history of repeated abuses and a tragic surge in suicide and escape attempts at a Louisiana youth detention center. The Times, in a collaborative investigation with the University of California, Berkeley, found that Ware Youth Center failed to report issues and disregarded state rules and Louisiana systemically failed to check Ware’s failings with fines, punishments, or even contract changes, even when inspectors documented the same issues years in a row.
At Ware Youth Center, detained young people attempted suicide at least 64 times between 2019 and 2020 and 91 children tried to escape. Forty-two people held at Ware over the last 25 years accused staff members of sexually abusing them.