Description
Rachel J. Slover1 and Rebecca Fry2, PhD1University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina2Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gilling School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of AmericaPart of the book: Environmental Health: Poverty, Race and Child Health in the Time of COVID-19Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.52305/JAES1522AbstractCOVID-19 has posed a nationwide public health emergency, and one of the most at-risk yet concurrently overlooked populations in the United States has been youth in the juvenile justice system. In order to understand how to break the cycle of environmental health disparities faced by incarcerated youth, an examination was performed of the prevalence of COVID-19 in the juvenile justice system through a Texas case study – chosen due to the state’s large, incarcerated youth population, vulnerability to COVID-19, and transparency in data reporting. Data on demographics and COVID-19 case counts were gathered on Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) facilities to understand who comprises the at-risk population and the extent of that risk. The potential for community influence on facility vulnerability was examined through data from the NIEHS Pandemic Vulnerability Index (PVI) and data from the TJJD on staff COVID-19 case counts. Analysis found racial disparities between placement in high versus lower-security TJJD facilities and between the state and TJJD population compositions. Findings further demonstrated baseline TJJD county vulnerability, high COVID-19 case counts for incarcerated youth, likely disease vectors from the staff to the youth, and disparities in case counts between facilities. Further research should be conducted to assess the sources of the disparities and how to best inform methods to break the cycle of health disparities and strive for equitable youth justice.References[1] Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. URL: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/.[2] CDC. Health equity considerations and racial and ethnic minority groups. Centersfor Disease Control and Prevention, 2021. URL: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/race-ethnicity.html. [3] CDC. Certain medical conditions and risk for severe COVID-19 illness. Centers forDisease Control and Prevention, 2021. URL: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medicalconditions.html.[4] The Marshall Project. Haney declaration, 2020. URL: https://www.themarshallproject.org/documents/6884322-Haney-Declaration.[5] American Academy of Family Physicians. Incarceration and health:A family medicine perspective (position paper). AAFP, 2017. URL:https://www.aafp.org/about/policies/all/incarceration.html. [6] Taquet M, Geddes JR, Husain M, Luciano S, Harrison PJ. 6-month neurological and psychiatric outcomes in 236,379 survivors of COVID-19: A retrospective cohort study using electronic health records. Lancet Psychiatry 2021;8(5):416–27.[7] Annie E Casey Foundation. Survey: Amid pandemic, youth detention populationfell 24% in one month, matching a recent seven-year period. Annie E CaseyFoundation, 2020. URL: https://www.aecf.org/blog/survey-amid-pandemic-youthdetention-population-fell-24-in-one-month-matchi.[8] Hager E. Solitary, brawls, Nno teachers: Coronavirus makes juvenile jails look likeadult prisons. Marshall Project, 2020. URL: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/05/12/solitary-brawls-no-teachers-coronavirus-makes-juvenile-jailslook-like-adult-prisons.[9] Youth justice under the Coronavirus: Linking public health protections with theMovement for Youth Decarceration. The Sentencing Project, 2020. URL:https://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Youth-JusticeUnder-the-Coronavirus.pdf.[10] Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. SAHM calls for action to protectjustice-involved youth. AdolescentHealth.org, 2020. URL: https://www.adolescenthealth.org/About-SAHM/Press-Releases/COVID-19-PandemicResponse-II-Calls-for-Action-to.aspx.[11] Hager E. Many juvenile jails are now almost entirely filled with young people ofcolor. The Marshall Project, 2021. URL: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2021/03/08/many-juvenile-jails-are-now-almost-entirely-filled-with-youngpeople-of-color.[12] Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Juvenile Justice Stateprofile: Texas. OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. URL: https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/special_topics/stateprofile.asp.[13] Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency. Prevention COVID-19 response. URL:https://www.tjjd.texas.gov/index.php/covid19.[14] US Census Bureau. QuickFacts. URL: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219.[15] National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. NIEHS COVID-19 PandemicVulnerability Index (PVI). US Department of Health and Human Services. URL:https://covid19pvi.niehs.nih.gov/.[16] Office of the Texas Governor. News Press Release. URL: https://gov.texas.gov/news/category/press-release.
