By Melanie R. Holmes
AFRO Staff Writer
(Courtesy Photo/fulloma.com)
|
(November 5, 2009) - Allegations of illegal seclusion methods within the Baltimore City Juvenile Justice System are false, says the Department of Juvenile Services.
According to the Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit’s “Special Report on Use of Seclusion,” BCJJS defied the law by locking about 10 disorderly youth in their room for five consecutive days.
The report contends that staff from DJS, BCJJC and Hope Health implemented a behavioral modification program for certain youth in July, requiring them to sign a Mental Health Behavioral Plan or Contract.
“The plan stated that if the youth failed to comply ‘with the facility norms and operating procedures,’ he would be immediately placed in his room for indefinite periods of time, with 23 hours in the room and only one hour out of the room for solitary exercise and showering,” the report states.
Referred to as 23/1, DJS Chief of Staff Tammy Brown said no such punishment occurred.
“No youth were behind locked doors for any period of time,” she said. “We would never make a contract with a kid and say, ‘You’re going in your room if you do this.’”
Rather, Brown said staff members were attempting to isolate violent youth from the general population by putting them in their room for an hour of “social separation.” She said the door is left open during this time, which is not seclusion, a term she said the state defines as placing youth behind a locked door.
“As far as I’m concerned, when the youth knows if he steps through the door way he will be physically restrained and placed in locked door seclusion, they’re the same,” said Marlana Valdez, JJMU director. “When the Department of Juvenile Services says it was social separation, it just wasn’t.”
Discrepancies over an 18-hour surveillance video lead both sides to draw conclusions in their own defense. While Valdez said the youth were locked up for the duration of the tape, Brown said the fact that the video shows the youth gradually released during the 18 hours disproves JJMU’s claim.
“No way would we ever seclude a kid for that period of time,” Brown said.
Extended seclusion at the detention center could potentially be psychologically damaging, according to the report, which said that decompensation may occur.
“Decompensation happens when a person ceases to be able to function, usually because of stress, and eventually a person who is in the process of decompensation may begin to lose self-control or become psychotic,” said Valdez. “Basically, they begin to fall apart.”
JJMU recommends a Guarded Care Plan in place of the contract, which would allow youth to develop individual anger management skills.
In response to the report, DJS wrote a letter stating the agency does not intend to utilize the Behavior Contracts “as they were being implemented.” Instead, they propose an Intensive Services Unit in which small groups will be supervised by a staff member who will monitor their behavior.
That might work, Valdez said, if the program focuses on a behavioral change established with the help of behavior health experts. “This is not a jail,” she said. “This is a detention center for children.”