Lawmakers hear that New Jersey county juvenile detention system is strained by staffing and contracting

At a hearing of the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee, state and county officials said New Jersey’s county-run juvenile detention system is under strain because of staffing shortfalls, contract arrangements that allow receiving counties to refuse placements and longer pretrial stays that keep beds occupied.

Dr. Jennifer LeBaron, executive director of the Youth Justice Commission, told the panel the system’s current problems are primarily contracting and staffing issues, not a lack of physical beds. “There are only 332 beds statewide and we have continually reached capacity,” she said, noting that a recent review reduced the official statewide rated capacity from 520 to 332 to reflect current staffing and building configurations. LeBaron added that on the week she reported there were 228 youths in those 332 beds — about 69% of the newly rated capacity — and that the commission had intervened in fewer than 20 placement emergencies in 2024 out of about 1,700 admissions.

The commission described two contract types counties use to house detainees: guaranteed beds, which a sending county reserves by paying an annual fee, and per diem beds, paid only for days a youth occupies a bed. LeBaron said per diem arrangements give receiving counties discretion to refuse placements even when beds are open, and that “placement failures generally occur when counties are relying on per diem contracting to attempt to place a youth.” She urged counties without facilities to buy more guaranteed beds and recommended expanding hiring and retention efforts for juvenile detention officers,…