BALTIMORE, Md. — The Office of the Public Defender is calling on the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) to allow it to inspect the Youth Detention Center dorms after it confirmed the heating system at the facility is not functioning.

"This is unconscionable," says Public Defender Natasha Dartigue. "Baltimore City Public Schools closes when indoor temperatures are this low because we recognize that children cannot learn, cannot thrive, cannot be safe in those conditions. Yet right now, 63 children are sleeping in extremely cold dormitories with nothing but thin blankets, and we're told they may endure this for days while we wait for parts to arrive. The State has a constitutional duty to provide humane conditions of confinement and is failing miserably."

"The Yo

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