Five state workers at Vermont’s only juvenile detention center have been put on leave as a child abuse investigation is underway into a June 29 incident involving the restraining of youth at the facility.
Sean Brown, commissioner of the Department for Children and Families, told the Joint Legislative Justice Oversight Committee that the restraint of the young person was “completely unacceptable” during a video meeting Thursday.
In addition, Brown said the facility is not currently taking new admissions as the state looks for alternatives to care for youth in custody.
Brown told the panel that the five staff members are on relief from duty as a human resources investigation is ongoing. DCF has also opened a child abuse investigation as a result of the incident, he said.
The latest turmoil comes as the facility has seen a dwindling number of youth in its care. On Thursday, Brown reported, there was only one youth at the 30-bed center. “We are working hard to move that youth to a more appropriate treatment setting as we speak,” the commissioner said.
The facility, which has a nearly $6 million budget, houses youth adjudicated as delinquent by a court.
The incident leading to the latest investigation took place June 29, according to Brown. Asked by a lawmaker for more information about what happened, Brown said that one youth began to “escalate,” and others did as well.
“Staff ultimately reverted to some techniques that aren’t supported by the new model that we’re using in the facility,” Brown said.
He added that staff restrained the youth “in a way that’s inappropriate in a prone position.”
Disability Rights Vermont, a nonprofit that advocates for people with disabilities and mental health issues, cited the incident in a court filing last month.
The organization pointed to it to support its claim that DCF has not lived up to a settlement agreement reached in April in a federal lawsuit brought by Disability Rights against the state over the “dangerous” conditions and practices at Woodside.
“Review of video from a June 29 incident involving two youth confirms that the same, or even more dangerous, pain-inflicting maneuvers that existed prior to this litigation were used again,” that filing stated, “despite this Court’s Preliminary Injunction Order and Order approving the Settlement Agreement.”
Prior to the settlement agreement that called on the state to take several actions, including following a national model when it came to the use of restraints on youth, federal Chief Judge Geoffrey Crawford issued a blistering order in granting a preliminary injunction against DCF.
In that ruling that came down last summer, Crawford cited a “horrific” video he viewed of a youth going through a crisis at the facility.
The judge, in his order, wrote that video “demonstrates in the space of a few minutes Woodside’s limited ability to care for a child who is experiencing symptoms of serious mental illness.”
Steve Howard, executive director of the Vermont State Employees’ Association, said in an interview Thursday afternoon that he couldn’t comment on the five suspended state workers since the union represents them in any disciplinary proceedings.
He did talk about how legal action had resulted in staff at Woodside having few options to address out-of-control youth at the facility.
“The unrealistic view of what actually happens on the ground in a facility like Woodside is based on the fact that policymakers are not listening to people on the front lines,” he said. “When a youth of substantial size and substantial strength starts to become violent, the only tool left is to call police.”
Brown, in testifying Thursday before the legislative committee, outlined the rocky past few months for Woodside, including several leadership changes as well as moves to different locations to free up space in the Essex facility to care for Covid-19 positive psychiatric patients.
The need to use the facility for that purpose never arose and Woodside returned to its Essex home in May.
Meanwhile, when the Scott administration announced late last year plans to close the facility and contract out the services provided there, it cited the few youth in custody. Numbers in recent months have ranged from a handful to no youth at the center.
Many staff have also left, according to Brown, as they looked for new work over fear they would lose the job they had at Woodside should it close.
The move to contract out the services stalled when a request for proposals earlier this year failed to result in a contractor to provide those services. However, Brown said Thursday, the state has been in talks recently with a provider who has proposed a secure residential program in Vermont.
“We hope to be able to provide more details to the Legislature in their August session,” he said, declining to name the entity.
Instead of taking new admissions, Brown said the state will look in the short-term to care for those youth through community-based programs as it seeks out a permanent solution.
“Do we have secure facilities to handle these youth in-state?” Rep. Charles “Butch“” Shaw, R-Pittsford and a committee member, asked.
“Yes,” Brown replied, adding that the state has already used such programs for youth.
“Were any of those youth placed back into a correctional facility? I think that’s a real concern,” Rep. Alice Emmons, D-Springfield and committee vice chair, said to Brown
“No,” he responded.
Brown spoke of a recent situation over a weekend where law enforcement and family services staff watched over a youth at a residence in Hyde Park until the state could make a placement in a “more appropriate setting for their needs.”
A.J. Ruben, supervising attorney for Disability Rights Vermont, told the committee Thursday his organization supports the commissioner and DCF’s plan to not put more youth at Woodside until it can be determined to be a safe place.
“We thought we had made it safe through the settlement agreement,” Ruben said. “Things happened that demonstrated that wasn’t the case.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Five Woodside workers suspended for ‘unacceptable’ restraint of youth.