Shop

The Palm Beach Post investigated Florida's juvenile justice experiment: the Pahokee Youth Development Center, a complex housing a large number of "moderate risk" children. The children housed in Pahokee were eligible for half-way houses or "boot camps," but instead were placed in a former adult prison. Upon investigation, the publication revealed that the experiment is a disaster. The Post documented "nagging problems of incompetence and abuse. The series cited numerous instances of guards, often only a few years older than their charges, physically abusing the youth or turning a blind eye toward youth-on-youth violence."