It was probably one of the better ones. The warden was a kind, enlightened woman who viewed her charges as damaged human beings in need of rehab, rather than as caged animals, and she did her best to hire staff that shared her philosophy.
That 90% estimate is too low! As the charge nurse, I had access to the kids' court records, as well as their medical histories. Reading through them was heart breaking. Of the scores of kids who went through there, I can't think of a single one who wasn't the survivor of some sort of horrific abuse. Sure, we had a few budding sociopaths, but reading through their files, I'd think "Hell, in her shoes I'd be more than a little psycho myself".
The place was good. They had dedicated teachers, and offered a full range of health services. We had a local psychiatrist as a consultant, though to be fair, about the only thing the poor woman could do was order a cartload of meds. It would probably take 40 hours of therapy a week per girl to make a dent in their in their problems. They even had an arrangement with the local dental school for regular cleanings, and to care for the most horrendous of their cavities.
The thing is, places like that one are expensive to run. I suspect it no longer exists, at least in that form. Legislators are reluctant to spend money on non-taxpaying juvenile delinquents when they could giving their billionaire buddies lavish tax breaks. You don't have to ask me whether I'd rather Susie gets a decent shot at life, or Joe Moneybags gets a second Ferrari. But then I don't make the rules in this state.
Obviously.
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