The national incidence of juvenile suicide in adult jails and juvenile detention centers.

Federal policy currently permits children to be placed in adult jails if they are kept separate from adult prisoners. However, past research suggests that facility and staff limitations at jails often result in juveniles being held in isolation without supervision. Based upon a national probability sample, the following hypotheses are tested: the suicide rate among children held in adult jails is higher than the suicide rate among children held in secure juvenile detention centers, and the latter rate is higher than the suicide rate among juveniles in the general population of the United States.