In response to a restraint programming change in late 2007 that does not allow juvenile facilities to use prone restraint newspapers are reporting that — Injuries in Maryland Juvenile Justice Facilities Spike in 2008.
By all accounts Maryland Juvenile Facilities in 2007 were a mess. The State and Federal government teamed up and provided a 200 million dollar renovation budget, new oversight and monitors. With all this, it seems hard to believe that the facilities could get any worse. They did.
From January to October 2007 there were 1,299 reported injuries in Maryland’s state-run and privately-operated juvenile facilities, according to the most recent data available on StateStat, the state’s statistics-based government management program that was implemented in early 2007. From January to October 2008, the Department of Juvenile Services reported 2,447 injuries in its facilities, an 88% increase from the previous year. Incidents within the facilities have also increased almost 20%. See http://somd.com/news/headlines/2008/9036.shtml
Note: we told Maryland Residential Services (MDRS) and the State Attorney General’s Office (AG) that this would happen when they were considering changing their restraint regulations. We also told MDRS and the AG’s office that the restraint regulations were illegal as they unduly restricted staff’s right to protect themselves beyond what would be reasonable. We informed the State that this was a constitutional violation of the staff’s basic rights, privileges and immunities — namely the right life and the liberty to protect that life from bodily harm by all means reasonable — as secured by the Constitution.
We noted, that where the State was infringing on basic rights, worker compensation laws may not stand, and staff may very well have the right to both collect worker compensation and punitive damages for their injuries.
By all accounts Maryland Juvenile Facilities in 2007 were a mess. The State and Federal government teamed up and provided a 200 million dollar renovation budget, new oversight and monitors. With all this, it seems hard to believe that the facilities could get any worse. They did.
From January to October 2007 there were 1,299 reported injuries in Maryland’s state-run and privately-operated juvenile facilities, according to the most recent data available on StateStat, the state’s statistics-based government management program that was implemented in early 2007. From January to October 2008, the Department of Juvenile Services reported 2,447 injuries in its facilities, an 88% increase from the previous year. Incidents within the facilities have also increased almost 20%. See http://somd.com/news/headlines/2008/9036.shtml
Note: we told Maryland Residential Services (MDRS) and the State Attorney General’s Office (AG) that this would happen when they were considering changing their restraint regulations. We also told MDRS and the AG’s office that the restraint regulations were illegal as they unduly restricted staff’s right to protect themselves beyond what would be reasonable. We informed the State that this was a constitutional violation of the staff’s basic rights, privileges and immunities — namely the right life and the liberty to protect that life from bodily harm by all means reasonable — as secured by the Constitution.
We noted, that where the State was infringing on basic rights, worker compensation laws may not stand, and staff may very well have the right to both collect worker compensation and punitive damages for their injuries.
Tags: juvenile justice, prone restraint, self defense, staff safety