Report: Juveniles in state facility remain a risk

By Mary Elizabeth Fratini | Special to the Vermont Guardian

Posted December 6, 2006

MONTPELIER — An advocacy group claims in a new report there are “systemic, programmatic and oversight failures” that may result in serious harm to youth detained at the Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center, especially youth with disabilities.

The report — Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center: Detention Unit: Time is Running Out — was authored by Vermont Protection and Advocacy (VP&A) and offers 42 specific recommendations for immediate and long-term actions to be taken by the Department of Children and Families (DCF).

“Since D-Wing’s beginnings, important areas of safety and treatment have been ignored by the government agencies responsible for maintaining the detention unit,” said Ed Paquin, VP&A’s executive director. Those areas include the lack of adequate fire suppression system, air conditioning and cleanliness.

The report followed a year-long investigation in response to allegations that youths with disabilities detained in D-Wing were subject to neglect and rights violations. VP&A found inappropriate and under-documented use of force by staff against residents; lack of clean, safe and adequate physical plant space; lack of appropriate training and oversight of staff; and lack of appropriate screening and accommodations for youth with disabilities.

VP&A's report joined earlier assessments by Dr. David Roush, a national juvenile justice consultant hired by DCF to review D-Wing in 1998 and again this year, in commending Woodside for maintaining a strong relationship-based program and low staff-turnover, but both noted that many of their objections had been previously raised by outside investigators as far back as 1988.

“We haven’t seen an answer as to why the problems pointed out by the Residential Licensing Units (RSU) had not been acted upon in the past. These were not problems that were not unknown, at least to someone’s eyes,” Paquin said.

The 16 beds of D-wing house an average of 345 youths annually, the lowest rate per capita of locked care for juveniles in the country, according to Steve Dale, DCF commissioner. Woodside opened in 1986 as a coed facility with two wings — one for detention and one for treatment. “Treatment is generally recognized as a model program,” Dale noted. “This focus is on the detention wing which was designed for short-term stays.”

DCF has had an improvement plan in place since July, according to Dale, following the most recent review by Roush. In the last six months, they have installed a sprinkler system, air conditioner, and full-time building and grounds maintenance personnel, and are working to establish a female staff presence on every shift.

Dale cited three areas from the report that he said he “wanted to make a personal commitment to addressing in a short time frame” — establishing a regular external oversight commitment; creating behavior management systems that reduce the use of restraints and seclusion and improve documentation and debriefing; and improving the educational programming in light of data indicating that at least 13 percent of youths admitted stay for more than 31 days.

Linda Kramer, a VP&A advocate, reiterated concerns about the lack of action on many of these issues over the last two decades. “Every one of these concerns has been mentioned in every report by independent evaluators and RLU since 1988,” she noted. “The political will and leadership at all levels has been lacking. There are many things we recommend that can be implemented without additional funds, if there is leadership and willingness on the part of the staff to do them.”

One of the larger and more controversial sections of the report focused on the use and documentation of physical restraints and seclusion at Woodside. “It isn’t just documenting the actual restraint, but being very clear about every step taken in order to prevent the restraint, and we see that lacking,” Kramer said. “Another piece is the debriefing after restraint and oversight, at a minimum, by someone at the facility to examine that.”

Dale acknowledged two injuries at Woodside — a broken wrist and a cut requiring stitches, and said the facility averages about 20 documented restraints per year. However, he too was concerned that the practice of documenting restraints isn’t as thorough as it should be.

“I really appreciate the involvement of VP&A and believe personally that their role in this state is critical,” Dale said. “Institutions play a unique role in community, but it is also easy for us as a society to have an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ attitude whenever an individual goes into an institutional setting.”

He anticipates meeting with VP&A in January to review the departments full plan for reforms and to conduct follow up meetings every few months thereafter to review progress.