"I'm not allowed out."

I'm in a segregation cell. I've been here for one and a half months, out of a 6-month sentence. I came to visit my grandma here in town in the summer but I got in trouble. My parents live in different states. I've been in detention in other states three times now. I'm here for credit card theft, but I'm in segregation because they said I threatened intimidation against the staff. My mattress stays in the hall during the day, I can only bring it in at night. Staff might say I'm out for at least one hour a day, sometimes two hours. But I'm not allowed out. Only to use the bathroom.

—J., age 16

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Isolation

In juvenile treatment facilities, the stay-time in isolation and observation rooms can vary from short-term (like time-out sites) to longer term.

At Giddings State School in Texas, pictured above, kids can be kept in isolation cells for up to 14 days, totally segregated from the general population.