The hearings, which were cosponsored by the Children's Cultural Foundation of New York, with a grant from the National Office for Social Responsibility, funded by the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the New Land Foundation of New York, focused mainly on solitary confinement, drug abuse, and physical violence in children's institutions. The purposes of the hearings were to inform the public and stimulate legislative change, particularly in the States. The testimony documented that most institutionalized children have never been charged with crimes; yet they are subject to involuntary detention and often treated like adult felons. Psychiatrists testified about the irreparable damage done to children by abuses like solitary confinement, doctors described the dangers of inappropriate use of drugs, and formerly incarcerated children described treatment usually associated with brutal, totalitarian states. Supplementary written material is appended. (Author abstract modified)