WEST PALM BEACH — A
girl locked in Palm Beach County's juvenile
detention center asked to see a therapist on the
anniversary of her mother's death, but said she
never heard back.
A boy at the center
was recommended for substance abuse treatment, but
nine months later, reviewers could find no evidence
he ever got it.
And other teens did
not get medication they were supposed to be taking
for mental health problems because workers failed to
follow up with their parents or doctors, according
to a report from attorneys at the Legal Aid
Society's Juvenile Advocacy Project.
Mental health
treatment for teens at the center on 45th Street in
West Palm Beach is sporadic and limited, the
attorneys said, in part because a private company
has not met the terms of its contract.
Palm Beach County
Juvenile Court Judge Peter Blanc ordered the review
in response to attorneys' concerns that teens were
being locked up for months without meaningful
treatment.
The 93-bed
facility, managed by the Department of Juvenile
Justice, holds juveniles charged with serious or
repeat crimes until space opens for them in a
longer-term residential programs.
This year some
teens have been forced to wait several months in
detention. The time they spend there does not count
against their sentences, which can vary depending on
behavior.
The state pays
PsychSolutions, Inc. of Coral Gables up to $180,170
a year to provide a therapist and two mental health
workers at the facility, and $28,665 for a part-time
psychiatrist.
Teens can get 45
minutes of individual counseling once a week, the
report said, but PsychSolutions does not provide the
group counseling or drug treatment promised in its
contract.
A PsychSolutions
executive told reviewers that they wanted the
company to focus on mental health instead of drug
treatment. The company had not been able to set up
group therapy because it was only able to hire two
of the three workers specified in its contract.
PsychSolutions has been looking for a third worker
for eight months and hopes to have the position
filled soon, according to the report.
That has forced the
company to focus on those children who are in
crisis, according to the report.
Others may have
been overlooked.
One boy who had
been in detention for two weeks cried during his
interview with the Juvenile Advocacy Project, saying
he was sad, had lost his appetite and was having
trouble sleeping. He wanted counseling, according to
the report, but was not receiving treatment.
In another case,
attorneys were told that a boy with anxiety and a
history of suicidal thoughts had to wait more than a
week before seeing the PsychSolutions' psychiatrist,
even though the doctor was coming to the facility
sooner and the contract specifies he is on call for
emergencies seven days a week, the report said.
The report's
authors, Legal Aid attorneys William Booth and
Michelle Hankey, said one of the main problems
seemed to be breakdowns in communication.
In some cases,
mental health experts suggested that state juvenile
justice workers keep constant watch on suicidal
teens, or check on them every five minutes. But
records show detention officers actually made those
checks just twice an hour.
In other cases,
mental health evaluations after teens were arrested
never got to the detention center files.
"It appears that
there is no follow-through," Booth said.
Leaders at the
Department of Juvenile Justice are reviewing the
report, spokeswoman Cynthia Lorenzo said. A
spokeswoman for PsychSolutions said the company
would respond to the findings soon. Judge Blanc has
scheduled another hearing on the issue, and said he
would wait to hear from the state before making any
decisions.
Booth and Hankey
hope their report will resonate with those committed
to helping children.
"No child in the
detention center should ever again be without mental
health and substance abuse services," they wrote.
