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, noting the commission increased its mandatory juvenile detention officer training from one class to three in 2025.

County leaders and prosecutors told a different story about the urgency on the ground. Mercer County Executive Dan Benson told the committee his county has experienced repeated placement refusals and soaring per-diem costs — in some cases he said Mercer paid as much as $900 a day — forcing the county to plan for roughly a $2 million budget increase for youth detention this year. “Mercer County is the canary in the coal mine here,” Benson said, urging the commission to take a more active role in placement and contracting.

Atlantic County officials described acute operational failures at Harborfields, the county facility the Youth Justice Commission oversees. Sheriff Joseph O’Donoghue said his office responded to major disturbances that injured staff and disabled facility operations; he said some detainees were adults and argued that mixing adults and juveniles created severe safety problems. “Never ever should youth be incarcerated with adults who are seasoned veterans,” the sheriff said. Atlantic County Prosecutor William Reynolds described multiple cases in which youth were held in police departments beyond the six-hour limit the commission cited as the standard, and said staffing shortfalls and complex multi-defendant cases lengthened processing times.

County-run facilities that accept out-of-county youth described financial and operational strain. Holly Cass, deputy county administrator for Camden County, said staffing vacancies exceed 30% of budgeted juvenile detention officer (JDO) positions and many filled posts are first-year employees. Camden charges other counties $450–$490 per diem but estimates its actual cost per detained youth is between $750 and $1,000. Bergen County counsel said the county invested about $30 million in a new detention center in 2012 and now houses many youths who are over 18; Bergen reported more than 60% of detainees were age 18 or older in recent months.

LeBaron emphasized New Jersey’s long-term progress under the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI), including steep declines in youth arrests and commitments over decades and substantial commission funding for alternatives to detention. The commission awards more than $20,000,000 annually in local youth-justice grants, LeBaron said, and is developing an RFP for two enhanced alternative-to-detention pilot programs targeted at youth for whom electronic monitoring is insufficient. She also said the commission’s October 2024 review recalibrated facility rated capacities to reflect staffing limits, and that returning staffed capacity to about 406 statewide (up 74 from 332) would allow counties to buy guaranteed beds matching prior-year counts.

Counties and the Association of Counties called for clearer statutory authority and operational protocols. John Donadio, executive director of the New Jersey Association of Counties, recommended an automatic “interest-of-justice” hearing when a juvenile reaches age 18 (or another date to be set) so a court can determine whether to transfer that case or keep the person in juvenile custody. Mercer and other counties urged legislation to clarify the Youth Justice Commission’s role in brokering and managing placements; Benson and other county officials cited an Atlantic County Superior Court ruling — now on appeal — that they interpret as recognizing broader commission authority.

Across witnesses, three recurring drivers emerged: (1) contracting arrangements that leave some sending counties dependent on per diem placements that can be refused; (2) staff shortages that force facilities to reduce rated capacity even when physical beds exist; and (3) longer pretrial and case-processing times that keep beds occupied for weeks or months. LeBaron said the commission is providing technical assistance, funding alternatives to detention and encouraging counties to purchase guaranteed beds; county officials said those measures have not prevented placement failures and growing local costs.

The hearing closed with multiple calls for the Legislature to convene a task force or pass clarifying legislation to set consistent placement rules, create faster judicial review for age and transfer questions, and align funding and staffing incentives across counties. Committee members asked for additional facility-level capacity and cost data to be provided to the Legislature for follow-up work.

Ending: The committee left the record open for additional data and detailed proposals; county officials said they stand ready to work with the commission and the Legislature on statutory changes and funding options to reduce placement instability, address staffing shortages, and shorten case-processing times.