|
Florida's Hastings Youth Academy - Changes made, but violence
continues
Hastings' History (click
here)
CAICA Report: Abuse and Deaths:
Florida Juvenile Justice System
Hastings Facility Has Troubles of
Its Own (click
here)
By Deidre Conner
September 6, 2008
Violence at a troubled youth center
in St. Johns County has persisted for more than a year since it
first reached a boiling point, a Times-Union review has found.
Brawls, staff misbehavior and
inappropriate relationships between staff and youths have plagued
Hastings Youth Academy since 2006, leading the Florida Department of
Juvenile Justice in March to threaten to take over the facility if
improvements weren't made.
In late July, the department said
the center had substantially improved. It released G4S Youth
Services, the private company that runs it, from the threat of
takeover, called a cure notice. Now it says G4S will be eligible to
rebid for the contract to run the center. The contract expires in
December.
However, in late June, a brawl
broke out that left one boy with a broken jaw and a staff worker
without a job for letting it happen. Since then, three youths have
been arrested for battery on workers.
The brawl happened a week before
the department's quality assurance inspectors arrived for a
scheduled review in July, the center's first since 2005. Among their
most disturbing findings: The majority of the students they
interviewed said staff bribed youths with candy and food to beat
other youths, a practice called "candy on a head."
Parents who contacted the
Times-Union have made similar allegations.
A company spokesman said those
claims are not true. The department closed an investigation Friday
after finding a report of those allegations unsubstantiated, said
Mary Mills, the department's North regional director. But the late
June fight remains under investigation.
In a written statement, G4S pointed
out that it has been removed from the takeover notice, and Hastings'
quality assurance score was in the top third of programs reviewed
this year.
Mills said progress has been made
since the spring.
"They've made substantial
improvements, with their behavior management system, staff training,
staff interaction with kids," she said.
That G4S continues to run the
center angers some parents. They say the experience left their sons
with emotional and physical damage.
One of them is Susan Taylor, whose
son was released from Hastings earlier this year.
The "candy-on-a-head" practice is
one of the traumatic experiences that have been painful for her son,
Micah, to talk about, Taylor said. He told her that youths who don't
participate in fights will become targets for worse beatings.
Her son was arrested not long
before he left Hastings for spitting on a staff member, one of at
least eight youths to face felony battery charges related to staff
altercations since January.
He has been hospitalized with
depression since returning home, and Taylor believes the cycle of
violence is to blame. She said her son came home in far worse shape
emotionally than when he went in.
"They're not teaching these
children better coping abilities," said Taylor, of Fort Walton
Beach. "Instead, you have people who incite violence."
Having heard about her son's
experience, she also worries about the youth who remain at Hastings.
"I believe that every child
presently in there is at risk," Taylor said.
deirdre.conner@jacksonville.com,
(904) 359-4504
HASTINGS' HISTORY:
Last fall, G4S Youth Services
leaders promised they were on the way to improving Hastings Youth
Academy and had developed a plan for corrective action. Instead, the
violence continued, a slew of reports and arrests show:
October 2007: A Times-Union
review of problems at the facility since 2006 includes the arrest of
two workers for crimes involving youths at the facility, and three
workers were involved in romantic relationships with youths. Four
youths escaped during a six-month period in late 2006.
January 2008: Two staff
workers are fired for improperly supervising youths. Two youths are
arrested for felony battery on staff workers.
February: A staff worker
takes down a boy in the program during a dispute, breaking his
shoulder. She is fired for using unnecessary force, but the St.
Johns County Sheriff's Office declines to pursue criminal charges.
March: The Department of
Juvenile Justice sends a letter to G4S Youth Services, saying the
company was in default of its contract to run Hastings Youth Academy
because of the high number of serious incidents, inappropriate
staff/youth relationships, and failure to develop an effective
behavioral management system. The department, which oversees more
than 90 residential programs for juvenile offenders, has issued five
takeover notices in the past 10 months, a spokesman said.
April: Two youths are
arrested for felony battery on staff workers.
June: Two staff workers are
reprimanded for improper supervision. In a separate incident, one
staffer is fired and one suspended for a youth-on-youth battery
incident that left one boy with a broken jaw and two others charged
with felony battery. A Department of Juvenile Justice inquiry into
the fight is not completed.
July: The Department of
Juvenile Justice releases G4S Youth Services from the takeover
notice, saying it had substantially complied with requirements to
improve. Two youths are arrested for felony battery on staff
workers.
August: Two youths are
arrested for felony battery on staff workers.
|
