The alleged abuse — part of an initiation ritual — was detailed by the state’s Office of the Independent Juvenile Justice Monitor in a report released yesterday, the same day the office revealed that three youths at the Baltimore Juvenile Justice Center were kept in isolation longer than permitted by state law.
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The youths at the Baltimore facility tried to escape Feb. 15 by squeezing through a loosely chained door and were placed in seclusion after they were caught. Initially, the state Department of Juvenile Services stated that the youths were not held in isolation for more than three days, the limit under the law, but the monitor’s office found they had been held for five consecutive days.
During their isolation, the youths were not allowed to shower regularly or attend school. One was forced to sleep on a bare mattress and he was not given anything to wear but underwear, the monitor’s office stated in a report. Two of the youths expressed an intent to commit suicide. One youth banged his head against a wall; another smeared human feces on his shirt.
“The way it comes at you, it is just like a tsunami,” said Stacey Gurian-Sherman, director of Juvenile Justice Family Advocacy Initiative and Resources, an advocacy group for families of youth in the state’s detention facilities. “It is just breathtaking. … If the department cannot ensure the safety of the youth then it should close the facilities. This abuse would not be tolerated in any other institution responsible for youth.”
State officials have already responded to a draft version of the reports, said LaWanda Edwards, a spokeswoman for the Department of Juvenile Services. A training program on the proper use of seclusion was begun. Supervisors attended a training session at the Baltimore facility this month and will be responsible for taking information back to their staffs and ensuring that they do not violate the law, she said.
The department is hiring 10 new staff members at the Noyes Center in Montgomery County, Edwards said. The monitor’s report indicated that a shortage of guards might have contributed to problems at the center, which holds about 50 juveniles but was built to handle 40. At least one juvenile was hurt in a fight at a time when staffing was low, the report stated.
Personnel action has also been taken. Noyes Center Superintendent Clara H. Miley was placed on administrative leave and has been transferred to a new facility, Edwards said. The monitor’s office found that Miley had failed to properly staff detention units or ensure that guards gave detailed reports.
Montgomery County police have investigated the Noyes incident, including allegations of child abuse, and no charges have been filed, Edwards said.
The Baltimore facility’s director of detention, Rodney Pegram, received a dock in pay, said Stephen Moyer, acting deputy secretary of administration. Two other employees who had direct knowledge of the seclusion incident were reprimanded, he said.
Other than Miley and Pegram, none of the fired or disciplined employees was identified in the two reports. State officials also refused to release their names.
Since Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has been in office, the Juvenile Services Department has improved checks and balances to ensure that reports of abuse and policy violations are investigated, Moyer said. Reports on Noyes and the Baltimore center are proof that the monitoring system is working, he said.
“Anyone close to the system knows that there have been improvements,” Moyer said. “But as we continue to progress there are issues that will come up, and when they do the department will respond and take action.”
Advocates, who have applauded recent progress, said the reports were shocking and demonstrate that the system is far from fixed.
“I look at these two reports, and I see that after years of complaints and documented abuses, there continue to be very serious problems at Department of Juvenile Services facilities,” said Sharon Rubinstein, communications director for Advocates for Children and Youth. “It seems like there was disarray and chaos. I was really very, very disappointed.”
The monitor’s office began investigating the Noyes facility last month after its interviews with several youths revealed complaints about abusive practices. Apparently a guard in one of the units started a group called “the family,” members of which were known as “soldiers,” according to yesterday’s report.
To join the group, juveniles had to stand with their hands over their heads while other youths stripped them of their clothing. Once an inductee was naked, members of the family, including the guard, would punch them in the groin, according to the monitor’s report. Even after initiation, the guard encouraged family members to continue to hit inductees in the groin “on a random basis.”
Once in the family, the report said, youths “enjoyed preferential treatment from the staff member” and were able to “use the staff member’s cell phone, eat pizza ordered by the staff member, and stay up past bedtime to have water fights and watch movies.”
Youths who were not members of the family were locked in their rooms by the guard without justification, the report stated. Even when supervisors ordered the guard to release juveniles, he failed to do so. Members of the family were often told to act as lookouts to warn the guard when a supervisor was near.
The guard who headed up the family also instructed his loyal detainees to beat up other juveniles at his discretion, the report stated. Once, he instructed his soldiers to search a youth’s room. During the process, one of them slapped the victim in the face, causing redness and swelling.
The monitor’s office also found that two other guards encouraged juveniles at the Noyes Center to engage in fights and use physical abuse to control weaker detainees. Both were disciplined.
Youths interviewed for the report said they didn’t know how they could report cases of abuse and other violations. Department of Juvenile Services records for 2003 show 26 grievances filed by juveniles at the Noyes facility. The monitor’s staff stated that records for last year “show zero grievances were filed.”
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