Distorted Minds Behind Locked Doors: The Foster Care System From My Eyes

Good morning everybody,

Most people think being locked up is just about a punishment. But what people don’t see is what goes on inside somebody’s mind after the doors close and the lights go out. Imagine being 15, 16, or 17 years old sitting alone in your room at night with nothing but your thoughts. No phone. No music. No distractions. Just your mind replaying everything you’ve been through and you contemplating on what you got here. The violence you seen. The people you lost. The anger you carry. The mistakes you made. The feeling that nobody really understands you.

A lot of us in here act tough and put up a guard because that’s all we know. Growing up around violence, trauma, and survival changes the way you think. After a while, anger starts feeling normal. Trusting people feels dangerous. Showing emotion feels weak. And honestly, most people don’t realize that a lot of incarcerated youth are not just dealing with criminal behavior - we’re dealing with untreated trauma, depression, anxiety, abandonment, and emotional instability.

In the year July 2017, according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, over 70% of incarcerated youth struggle with at least one mental health disorder. That means most of the people siting in juvenile halls are carrying problems deeper that what people see on the outside.

My name is Gabriel R. and today I want to tell you that juvenile facilities should require meaningful mental health counseling and rehabilitation programs because punishment alone does not fix broken thinking patterns or emotional damage and another thing is wehn these services are provided to take your mental health seriously and really go in with the intent to want to know yoursel fbetter because now and days that seems like the problem is youth are getting busted and having that guard up prevents them from growing and learning.

One of the biggest problems in juvenile facilities is lack of real mental health care. Yeah, counseling exists in some places. But a lot of the time it feels rushed, forced, or not taken seriously. Some youth never get real emotional support even when it’s obvious they need it.

According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, exposure to violence, abuse, neglect, and instability changes adolescent brain development and increases aggresive and impulsive behavior and to those who don’t know what adolescent means its the growth of an individual. A lot of us grew up in a survival mode. And when survival mode is all you know, your brain starts adapting to it. You stop thinking emotionally and start thinking defensively.

But another major issue is that people don’t care enough to really know about themselves. A lot of youth go into counseling thinking: “This is pointless.” “I already know myself.” “Let me just finish this hour.” And honestlty, I understand why. Opening up is uncomfortable yea but Looking at your trauma is uncomfortable. Admitting your hurt is uncomfortable. Sometimes our own minds stop us from healing because we’re scared of what we might dicsover about ourselves.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, many young people avoid mental health treatment because of stigma and fear of vulnerability and to those who dont know what stigma is its the fear of being judged, and this was October 7, 2021. But if somebody thinks they already know everything, they stop growing like I said before. A lot of people physically show up to counseling, but mentally they checked out before the session even starts.

That’s why the problem isn’t only lack of access. It’s also lack of care, lack of self-awareness, and fear of chaning your mindset. Because changing your thought process means changing the way you see yourself, your emotions, and your future. That’s why I believe juvenile facilities should require mandatory mental health rehabilitation programs with at least one meaningful hour of counseling every week. Not just programs to pass time. Real counseling focused on: trauma, emotional control, coping skills, accountability, and changing destructive thinking patterns. Because punishment focuses on what somebody did. And if nobody ever addresses the “why,” the cycle keeps repeating.

According to the National Institute of Justice, Rarat 2022, cognitive behavioral therapy programs help reduce repeat offenses by teaching youth how to change negative thinking patterns and emotional reactions. Therapy is not weakness. It’s learning how to contol yourself before your emotions control you. But therapy only works if somebody is willing to be honest with themselves. You have to actually ask yourself questions like: Why do I react like this? Why do I get angry so fast? Why do I push people away? Who do I actually want to become when I leave this place? Now, some people argue that counseling already exists in juvenile facilities, so adding more programs won’t change anything. And honestly, part of that is true.

Just sitting somebody in a room for one hour doesn’t magically change them. Som people walk in there just trying to survive the session and leave. But that doesn’t mean counseling is useless. It means growth takes time. Most people resist vulnerability at first because nobody likes feeling exposed. But over time, real counseling and mentorship can slowly change somebody’s mindset and help them understand themselves better. Rehabilitation doesn’t remove accountability either. We still face consequences for our actions. But mental health treatment gives people tools to stop repeating those same actions. According to the Justice Policy Institstute, repeat incareration costs taxpayers billions of dollars every year. So helping youth heal mentally is not only better for them — it’s better for society too.

Now imagine two different futures. In one future, nothing changes. Youth keep coming into juvenile hall angry, traumatized, emotionally disconnected, and lost. Then they leave the same exact way. The cycle repeats: more violence, more incarceration, more broken families, and more destroyed lives. But now imagine another future. Imagine juvenile facilities where youth actually learn emotional control and self-awareness. Where people stop hiding their trauma and start understanding it. Where somebody who once thought violence was survival learns discipline, purpose, and accountability instead. Imagine somebody leaving here not just older — but mentally stronger. One path keeps destroying lives. The other creates transformation. So today, I challenge all of us to stop viewing mental health treatment as weakness. Because sometimes the biggest prison isn’t the room somebod is locked in. It’s the mindset they’re trapped inside of.

Thank you,

~ Gabriel R.