**MEDIA ADVISORY**
February 24, 2023
Contact: Yonah Zeitz – 347-201-2768 – yonah@katalcenter.org
Follow online: #CutShutInvestCT | www.katalcenter.org
Middletown, CT: Community Members, Parents, Groups, Educators, and Local Elected Officials to Hold Press Conference to Keep Youth Prison Closed
The Connecticut Juvenile Training School Has a Long History of Neglect and Abuse of Young People, Governor Lamont Should Demolish CJTS and Invest in Real Community Safety
Middletown, CT – On Monday, February 27 at 4:30 PM, community members, parents, groups, educators, and local elected officials will gather outside of the closed-Connecticut Juvenile Training School (CJTS), a youth prison, to demand that it remains closed and ultimately demolished. Right now, the State Board of Education is reviewing an application for the establishment of a charter for Capital Preparatory Middletown Charter School to be opened at the now-closed Connecticut Juvenile Training School (CJTS). This process has been riddled with secrecy and a lack of community involvement with local Middletown residents. Due to community demands, Capital Prep announced over the weekend they will be removing CJTS from their charter school application. During the press conference, parents and community members will call for CJTS to be formally removed from the application and for the youth prison to be demolished.
CJTS has a documented and notorious history of neglect and abuse of young people, ranging from the use of chemical agents, to excessive restraint, and solitary confinement. To suggest that it be re-opened to create a charter school is reprehensible. Connecticut should be closing MORE prisons, not re-opening them for schools. CJTS is an inappropriate and unacceptable place for human beings, especially children. CJTS must be permanently destroyed – not held in reserve to re-open.
Governor Lamont must continue to close prisons and dismantle currently closed prisons – including the Connecticut Juvenile Training School – so they cannot be used again and move to cut correctional populations statewide, shut down more prisons and jails, and invest in true public safety: housing, healthcare, education, and jobs.
WHAT: Press Conference to Keep Youth Prison Closed
WHEN: Monday, February 27 from 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: 1225 Silver Street, Middletown, CT 06457
WHO: Katal Center, Community Members, Families, Educators, Local Elected Officials, Directly Impacted People, and other community groups
WATCH LIVE ON INSTAGRAM: @katalcenter
###
