Juvenile Law Center, The Gault Center, Dr. Gia Elise Barboza-Salerno Amicus Brief, In the Matter of M.H.

The Juvenile Law Center, the Gault Center, and Dr. Gia Elise Barboza-Salerno filed an amicus brief in support of an eleven-year old child who was deemed incompetent to stand trial and detained for competency restoration.

From the introduction:

Confining an eleven-year-old child deemed incompetent in a detention facility puts the child at grave risk of physical abuse, trauma and lifelong devastating health outcomes, and disrupts the supportive systems needed for healthy adolescent development. It is also counter-productive and unlikely to result in any change in competency. It is the wrong approach and every day that passes compounds the damage further. 

Ohio’s youth justice system aims “[t]o provide for the care, protection, and mental and physical development of children… whenever possible, in a family environment, separating the child from the child’s parents only when necessary for the child’s welfare or in the interests of public safety.” Ohio Rev. Code § 2151.01(A). Detaining an eleven-year-old child found incompetent contravenes this goal by putting the child at grave risk–without any likely benefit of restoring competence or promoting safety.