LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A wide-ranging bill introduced in the Kentucky legislature aims to combat overcrowding and poor conditions in the state's youth detention facilities. It also would address a trend of troubled foster kids living temporarily in government office buildings.

The amended version of Senate Bill 242 from Sen. Danny Carroll, R-Benton, would cost the state $165 million, the bulk of which would pay for new construction. 

Besides the physical structures, the legislation would create new standards for state officials working with the court system to ensure that children are placed in settings that match their needs. 

"We're plowing new ground ... to go from being one of the worst states in this area to the best," Carroll told members of the Senate's Families and Children Committee on Tuesday. No vote on the bill was taken.

At the same time, he acknowledged that lawmakers will have to discuss whether they can fund the legislation. 

"This comes with a price tag," Carroll said. "So we have some decisions to make on this."

Legislators have targeted Gov. Andy Beshear's Department of Juvenile Justice and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services in the past year over how those agencies have handled children in their care. 

But Cabinet Secretary Eric Friedlander appeared before legislators Tuesday, welcoming Carroll's bill and saying it would address several issues such as security for some children who are a danger to themselves or others.

"This is progress," he said. "This is good progress. We will be in a better place than we have been. ... but still a lot of work to do."

Since June 2022, Kentucky social workers have been removing some troubled kids from their homes to temporarily live in government buildings because there are not enough foster homes or residential treatment facility beds available.

In Louisville, for example, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services has housed children in the L&N Building, a 116-year-old office building at Broadway and 9th Street with no beds, showers or food providers.

At the same time, youth detention centers have come under scrutiny, especially the Adair County Youth Detention Center, for horrific conditions and treatment.

At least three lawsuits have been filed against the Adair center in the last year, including one claiming children were held in isolation for weeks at a time, defecating in their cells, having their medicine withheld and being put in illegal restraint holds as staffers falsified incident reports to hide the suffering.

The detention center has also faced scrutiny from a November 2022 riot in which several young people and staff were wounded. A girl in custody was allegedly sexually assaulted and at least two guards were taken to the hospital with injuries.

After the riot, Beshear ordered changes in the juvenile justice system. Some of those changes included opening a juvenile jail for girls only, separating teen inmates by the seriousness of their crimes, hiring a security director for juvenile justice and creating a compliance division.

On Tuesday, Carroll said the bill would include construction of a new facility with 16 beds on the grounds of Central State Hospital in Louisville designed more for treatment than detention. The new building would specialize in treating kids who have displayed "manifest aggression, violence toward persons, or property destruction," according to the bill. 

That facility would take about 18 months to build and could be expanded if needed. 

Also, Carroll said there will be two new places built for female juveniles, in central and western Kentucky, with the possibility of a third in northern Kentucky. Each would cost an estimated $45 million.

"We're not going to have these kids - once we get this facility built - locked up in a cell naked, sleeping in feces with no treatment," Carroll told the Senate committee. "That's just not going to happen anymore with this."

The juvenile justice department would be given the power to reassign the housing of a child based on security concerns, staffing needs and classification.

The bill would require the juvenile justice department to enter into "sufficient contracts to ensure the availability of institutional treatment" for the most troubled children.

Some of those neglected or delinquent children are currently being temporarily housed in office buildings.

In July, Friedlander told lawmakers that nearly 90 Kentucky foster children were staying in government buildings.

"It's a tragedy," he said at the time. "It's something that none of us wanted."

In an update to legislators last October, cabinet officials said the situation was ongoing and that 38 children in state care have now been sent to other states because of the lack of available placement in Kentucky. He said all states are currently having trouble placing kids.

In an August  hearing in a Louisville family court case, a social worker for the cabinet testified that children are staying in other business buildings without showers where they sleep on cots, and there is no one trained to "watch" them full-time or ensure they are properly given their medicine.

In addition, the cabinet doesn't have employees trained to de-escalate dangerous situations watching over the children full-time. In one instance, police were called to the L&N building and a child was charged with aggravated assault of an officer, according to court records.

Carroll asked in October if the state needed to build or purchase a new facility to house these children.

"I really don't want to answer yes to that question," Friedlander said, pointing out that it's tough to fund the upkeep of such a facility long-term. "But if we can't figure out some way for these kids to get placed, I don't know what else we are going to be able to do."

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