For one of 14 New Orleans boys housed at Caddo's juvenile detention center, the harrowing journey to Shreveport, La. wasn't nearly as hard as the uncertainty he faces now. The teen, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, was being held at the Correctional Youth Center in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina made landfall.

He and dozens of other boys serving time in the secure facility found themselves knee-deep in water. They stayed that way for more than two days. After that night, detention center officials shackled the boys together in pairs and took them outside where hundreds of adult inmates from the nearby Orleans Parish prison were also trying to get to higher ground.

The next day, the juveniles and adults were loaded into buses and driven to the Interstate 10 bridge where they sat in the sun for about eight hours.
Then the inmates were again loaded onto buses, where they finally got a little bit to eat and some water. A few hours later, all of the juveniles were able to shower and eat a full meal in Baton Rouge before a group of 16 were sent to Shreveport.

Since they arrived, one of the boys was released to his parents who are staying in another state. A 17-year-old sentenced as an adult was transferred to Forcht Wade Correctional Center after authorities realized he snuck over into the group of juveniles during the chaos of the evacuation, Burns said.

While staff members worked to help get the rest of the boys in touch with the family members who also fled the storm in all directions, counselors worked to help the teens adjust, Burns said.

The records of the eight boys who are in the custody of the Office of Youth Development as wards of the state can be accessed anywhere in Louisiana. The other eight faced more problems. Because juvenile records are sealed, only the parish court where the teens were sentenced and the boy's family members have access to their files.