January/February, 2008 FORUM Article

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Report Criticizes Ohio Juvenile Corrections System

Ohio’s juvenile-corrections system has been troubled for years, but never has its flaws been laid bare so clearly as in a report issued December 31, 2007 that labeled it excessively violent, overcrowded and understaffed.

Further, independent fact-finder Fred Cohen concluded that the practice of isolating youth offenders in cells similar to those in the Ohio Penitentiary at Youngstown, the state’s "supermax" prison for adults, is unconstitutional and "should immediately cease". Juvenile offenders are placed in isolation too often and for too long, Cohen said. His report, filed as part of a pending settlement in a 3-year-old federal class-action lawsuit against the state, also was highly critical of inadequate education, health-care and mental health services for the 1,788 youths in 8 state juvenile facilities.

"There are a number of deficiencies," said Al Gerhardstein, a Cincinnati attorney representing all juveniles in the system. "We consider it an emergency. We hope we have the attention of the highest levels of state government."

Tom Stickrath, a veteran of the adult prison system who took over at the Department of Youth Services three years ago, said that’s certainly the case with Gov. Ted Strickland taking a personal role in re-examining the system. "I generally agree with the report," Stickrath said. "In many ways, it supports the broad array of changes we’re making."

Comments from the fact-finder’s report:

1. "Federal requirements for special education students are basically and systemically violated, security is found to trump education in most matters ..."
2. Juvenile corrections officers "function now more like prison guards (or police officers) than trained partners in a shared rehabilitative effort."
3. "... there is a harshness in the social climate that is created by verbally abusive and militaristic JCO’s."
4. "We found no evidence of sustained effort to provide these youth with a health or dental education program."
5. "Fear at (the Ohio River Valley Correctional Facility) is an all-consuming fire, fueled by the three-dimensional aspects of fear: youth fear other youth, youth fear staff, and staff fear youth."
6. A 15-year-old youth confined to the intensive Program Unit "...spent four months in this antiseptic, lock-down unit that resembled the units and cells at the Ohio State Penitentiary, Ohio’s supermax. The only difference is the cells at OSP had more furniture (a desk) and every cell has a television."
7. "Over 60% of the teachers in the DYS education system report that they fear for their safety."

Source: Fact-finder’s report

"We are too quick to use force on kids, and we should not have to use as much isolation."

Stickrath said he’s been systematically addressing most problems cited, but he said the report "will be the catalyst for taking things to the next level."

The next step will be settlement discussions between the state and Gerhardstein’s team, under the direction of U.S. District Court Magistrate Terence C. Kemp.

The state system handles youths 11 to 20 years old convicted on a variety of charges. Nine of 10 are male. It costs the state about $80,000 a year for every juvenile inmate. Last year, state officials took the unusual step of agreeing to settle Gerhardstein’s lawsuit. both sides agreed to have an independent fact-finder assess the situation before moving forward on a settlement.

"We could spend years of costly pretrial litigation, depositions and go through a protracted trial and we’d probably be at a point where we still had to make the changes," Stickrath said. "We decided to not spend all that money and time when we knew we had a system that needed reform."

The 2004 lawsuit over conditions at state juvenile-detention facilities is being handled by Gerhardstein in conjunction with the Ohio Justice and Policy Center, Children’s Law Center and Youth Law Center. The findings and commentary in the 201-page report ranged from sobering to sad.

"Most ODYS facilities were found to be overcrowded, understaffed, and under-served in such vital areas as safety, education, mental health treatment and rehabilitative programming. Excessive force and the excessive use of isolation, some of it extraordinarily prolonged, is endemic to the ODYS system."

One boy told a fact-finder, "Some kids will go on suicide watch just for someone to pay attention to you and talk to you."

The report was equally critical about inadequate health, dental and mental health services and the fact that, on many days, youths at Youth Services facilities receive less than the legally required day’s worth of school instruction.

"Federal requirements for special education students are basically and systemically violated. Security is found to trump education in most matters," the report said.

At one facility, fear was described as "an all-consuming fire, fueled by the three-dimensional aspects of fear: youth fear other youth, youth fear staff, and staff fear youth."

One of the solutions, both sides agree, may be hiring more corrections officers to help deal with juvenile populations now 140% of rated capacity. To get to the 1-to-12 officer-to-inmate ratio, the state would have to hire 188 new officers to an estimated cost of $7.8 million annually, the report said. Reaching a more desirable 1:8 ratio would cost $14.2 million.

The full report can be viewed online at: http://www.dys.ohio.gov/dysweb/PressReleases/CONSULTANT%20REPORT%2012-31-2007.pdf, or contact ajohnson@dispatch.com