The Following is a verbatum copy of the letter from former OCFS employee Ed Ausborn. This letter is a response to a letter from B. Baccaglini to the times union about a new program called BLUE SKIES ( Placing NYC youth in their home for treatment instead of Upstate Facilities ). Juveniles Deserve Better
I read with great interest Mr.Baccaglini’s editorial piece on the need to reform the New York State Juvenile Justice System. Mr.Baccaglini is a member of the “Reform” crowd who has been slamming New York States delivery of services to Delinquent Youth in our state.
The Juvenile Justice Reform plan calls for the City of New York to essentially retain custody of Delinquent Youth who had been previously sent to NYS operated Residential Programs across the state. New York City will now provide services for this large group of youth in the City. Sounds like a good idea, right? First question is what reforms are the rest of New York States Delinquent Youth in for. There has not been a mention of a plan for any Non-City youth. Reformers all seem to be New York City based, and coincidently have Magic Bullet services to sell. Do we really think that the rest of New York State is not going to pay for this grand experiment?
More importantly, we all know that the applied intervention must be targeted for the appropriate presenting issues. The City’s and states plan is built on providing community services to low level, first time, non-violent youth in their homes and communities. This is not the case. These youth are repeat, habitual offenders who have experienced numerous diversion programs prior to being placed by the Family Courts. The Court’s know these youth well, and have finally placed them for out of home placement as sometimes a last resort. These youth are extremely violent and have committed crimes including Assault, Robbery, Gun and Weapons charges and some Sex Crimes. Youth are not always placed on the most serious crime they have committed; Courts go back to prior open cases, so the placing charge can camouflage the serious, violent history that they have. Office of Children and Family’s Commissioner, Gladys Carrion, has consistently described the incoming population as of need of extreme mental health services. Selling these youth as low level, first offenders is minimally misleading, you take it from there. Currently, some of these youth have already been diverted to Private, Non-Profit Programs which have low levels of security and staffing. These programs are experiencing the turmoil that these youth bring in open settings. The New York State Inspector Generals Office should investigate the violence levels in both these Non-Profit Programs and New York States own Residential Programs prior to the implementation of this plan.
I have worked in this field for 34 years and almost all spent in charge of treatment of this type of youth, and for the last three years of my career as the Deputy Commissioner for Residential Programming for the Office of Children and Family Services, retiring in 2007. I received Nation Recognition by the Social Workers of America and a Plague and recognition by Mayor Bloomberg. Think I know what I am talking about?
OCFS Commissioner Gladys Carrion, has initiated a direct assault on her own Faculities for the past four years, condemning them, but doing little to change them. I am told the violence level in these faculities in unimaginable. These are exactly the same youth.
So here we go, ignoring all facts and making a square piece of the puzzle fit into a round hole. I am extremely concerned over the community safety of this plan. Magical Bullets do not come out of the “clear blue sky”, but you can make a couple dollars trying I guess. Ed Ausborn
Tags: ACS, Department of Community Juvenile Rehabilitative Services New York OCFS, Ed Ausborn, gladys carrion, juvenile justice, ocfs, ocfs commissioner, Ronald Richter NYC Administration for Children's Services ACS
Clifton police are defending an officer who used force to break up an after-school fight, throwing a punch at a teenage boy who allegedly interfered repeatedly while police tried to stop the scuffle, as shown in a video in YouTube.
An amateur video shows the unidentified officer shoving the Clifton teen onto the ground and telling him to “move away” from the fight between his girlfriend and another girl. The teen, though, appears to jump at the officer, who then takes a swing at the boy.
Police said a review of the incident suggest the officer acted appropriately and within the law to protect himself and those around him, Clifton police spokesman Detective Sgt. Robert Bracken told the Record today. He also noted that the officer would have been allowed to use baton strikes or pepper spray to subdue the teen.
“Officers are justified to use a level of force necessary to overcome the force being exhibited by a suspect,” Bracken told the Record. “Whatever force is being used, officers are allowed to use one level of force higher.”
Bracken also said that during the 30 seconds before the video started, the teen tried to intervene in the fight, despite officers repeatedly pushing him away.
The teen, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, was charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest, obstruction and criminal mischief, according to the Record.
A 16-year-old boy was in critical condition Friday after being shot while walking near Santa Ana High School with a friend.
The boy was hit in the upper torso while students were leaving the school, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna told the Orange County Register.
The friend was uninjured and tried to help the boy, Bertagna said.
“He tried to get his friend home, made it a couple hundred yards, and then we arrived,” Bertagna said.
A helicopter aided the search for the shooter, while police established a perimeter to search the area on the ground.
Witnesses described the gunman as a stocky man wearing a black hooded sweat shirt.
The shooter is believed to have approached the boys from behind before walking ahead of them, turning around and opening fire, Bertagna said.
The motive for the shooting was not known. Police were working with school officials to determine whether there was any incident or fight earlier at the school.
A Brooklyn school’s botched handling of a 5-year-old autistic student’s tantrum ended disastrously — with his mom and grandma in handcuffs and his great-grandmother’s rib broken, the family and their lawyers charge.
New York City Schools have a strict hands off policy for teachers. So rather than schools handling the behavior, law enforcement is called when students (including 5-year-olds) have behavioral issues or emotional meltdowns.
What is completely ironic is that the restraint-free movement whose policies and ideology have necessitated the increased use of law enforcement are now calling the manifestations of their own policies ” inconsistent with any notion of how we should be dealing with children.”
Cops hauled the kindergartner out of Public School 197 in Brighton Beach, handcuffed his kin when they tried to comfort the boy, and pushed his mother and 80-year-old great-grandmother out of the ambulance transporting him to the psych ward, they say.
“He was crying and screaming,” she added. “They strapped him to that stretcher. He started, ‘What am I doing here? — in Russian. ‘Why am I here? What did I do?’ ”
On Tuesday, the family expects to officially notify the city of plans to sue over the March 6 incident. And officials confirm that the city’s Civilian Complaint Review Board is investigating.
Police deny handcuffing or manhandling the family.
“No one was touched,” a police spokeswoman said, noting officers were called to the school because the boy was out of control.
The attorneys for the family, who asked to identify the boy as G.R., argue the police should never have been called.
“The school should not have let the police come in and put their hands on G.R.,” said lawyer Jeffrey Rothman, who along with James Meyerson and Anton Papakhin represents the family.
“They should have been able to handle this temper tantrum from a 5-year-old.”
In December, family members were called to the school when G.R. became upset, but they were allowed to comfort the boy and take him home.
They were treated very differently on March 6. Grandmother Maria Lirtsman, 50, was the first family member to arrive and was physically blocked from seeing her grandson, she said.
A police officer dragged her down the school stairs faster than she could walk, she said, and at one point she fell. Cops handcuffed her twice, Rothman said.
“I was treated like garbage, like I’m a second-hand citizen,” said Lirtsman, who immigrated to the U.S. 35 years ago. “In Russia
, I would expect something like that, but in America it was the first time.”
Cops also handcuffed the mother and then pushed the great-grandmother to the ground when she tried to get in the ambulance with the distraught boy.
The ambulance driver ultimately stepped in to make sure the police released Rozenberg from handcuffs.
G.R. was given a clean bill of mental health and released from Coney Island Hospital, his family and attorneys say.
Later that evening, great-grandmother Lana Lirtsman returned to the hospital, fearing she was having a heart attack. Instead she learned that her rib had been broken, the family said.
“I couldn’t understand what was wrong with me,” she said.
Department of Education officials declined to comment on the specific incident, citing privacy rules.
“The school has assigned a [a teacher’s aide\] for the child and has been working with the family to meet the needs of the student,” said Department of Education spokeswoman Marge Feinberg.
Advocates charged calling cops on kindergartners shouldn’t be tolerated in city schools.
“This is the kind of behavior that is so out of line and so inconsistent with any notion of how we should be dealing with children that it’s really hard to believe,” said New York Civil Liberties Union executive director Donna Lieberman.
Tags: autism, autistic student, behavior management, broken rib, brooklyn, grandmother, handcuffed, law enforcement, law suit, meltdown, restraint, school, tantrum
Almost two years ago the Georgia Department of Education revised its restraint policy and enacted a regulation that is illegal under Georgia’s self defense laws and Poses A Safety Threat to Teachers, School Staff, School Administrators, Special Education Clinicians, Students and Paraprofessionals.
The result: Another 6 year old student handcuffed
The Georgia Department of Education does have statewide standards on physically restraining a child in the schools. The rules are called Seclusion and Restraint for All Students and they were established in July 2010.
Now those rules clearly define the different types of restraints and whether or not they are allowed in Georgia public schools. Physical restraints are prohibited in schools unless the child is a danger to him or herself or others and doesn’t respond to verbal directions or other de-escalation techniques.
“In the case of physical restraints it’s pretty clear that it’s not to be used unless the child is imposing a harm to other people or him or herself, so if that’s the case then it’s a judgment call about using the restraints,” said Matt Cardoza, Director of Communication for Georgia Department of Education.
Schools that decide to employ physical restraints should follow certain guidelines including training staff and faculty on appropriate techniques. They also should provide written notification to parents when their children are restrained. Schools should also have procedures for monitoring and observing the physical restraints should be in place and documented.
Now if the child is considered to be a danger to him or herself or others, it’s the school that needs to determine when it needs assistance from law enforcement. Law enforcement don’t have to comply with Georgia Department of Education’s rules on physical restraints.
“Law enforcement comes into a building then they have their right to restrain a student again based on their own guidelines if that child is being harmful to others or him or herself,” said Cardoza.
The problem with Georgia’s rule is two-fold:
First, Georgia’s DOE has transferred the ability to manage disruptive and dangerous classroom behavior from teachers to law enforcement. Types of interventions that were formerly managed in the classroom are apparently being outsourced to law enforcement because of unduly restrictive intervention policies enacted by Georgia’s DOE. It used to be that law enforcement was only called as a last resort. Here law enforcement was called for the behavior management of a 6-year old.
Second, because Georgia’s DOE guidelines are so restrictive children and students are being allowed to escalate without teachers being able to impose effective limits and consequences prior to the behavior becoming dangerous and out of control. When a child perceives the adults in his life as unresponsive to his demonstrations, an escalation of the destructive impulses can ensue until the child finally crosses the threshold where the adults are compelled to interrupt his destruction.
Georgia Police handcuff a 6-year old girl for misbehaving
Quote from http://rt.com/usa/news/child-tantrum-handcuffed-us-277/
Looking for a way to calm down a six-year-old? Handcuffs are your perfect answer. At least, according to police officers in the US state of Georgia, who say there is no age discrimination when it comes to cuffing suspects.
A solution child psychologists might envy was worked out when pupil Salecia Johnson, having one of her regular tantrums, was taken to the principal’s office at Creekside Elementary, Milledgeville, GA.
Distressed, the girl was unlucky enough to knock over a shelf that happened to injure the principal. The principal had no qualms in calling the police, accusing Salecia of assault and damage to property.
The police arrived and took the child to the station for charges – first, though, handcuffing her “for safety.”
Tags: 6 year old, georgia, handcuffed, student
Dr. Dee Fowler, Superintendent of Madison City Schools, said the shooting happened about 1:45, during a class change in the ninth grade hallway. Fowler said a ninth grade student shot Brown. As soon as that happened, a school resource officer rushed to see what happened, as well a school nurse. Emergency personnel responded to the school immediately, and were with the injured students by 1:48pm. They came from just across the street from the school, from Madison Fire Station 2.
Dr. Fowler said the school immediately went into an emergency procedure they hoped they’d never have to use. They immediately went into lock down and made sure everyone was safe.
The student victim, Brown, was rushed to Huntsville Hospital. Emergency responders had already notified the trauma team, and hospital workers were waiting for him.
Fowler said the school started to release students to parents around 2:15, after they determined the school was secure.
Madison Police have the shooting suspect in custody. His name is NOT being released. Police Chief Larry Muncey asked everyone to keep Todd Brown and his family in their prayers.
Madison Mayor Paul Finley urged people to pray for the Brown family, and the students of Discovery Middle School. He said city leaders will continue to work through the weekend with local churches and counselors to make sure students get the counseling support that they need.
Violence is on the rise at a handful of Maryland’s juvenile detention facilities. Staff members at the Victor Cullen Center used handcuffs to restrain youths nearly 200 times in 2011, up from 36 times in 2010. At Cheltenham Youth Facility, riots and other “group disturbances” took place 65 times in 2011, up from a dozen times in 2010.
All of this information was readily available in a routine report on a state website, and helped lead to The Baltimore Sun’s look this weekend at issues in the state Department of Juvenile Services. The document was filed under Gov. Martin O’Malley‘s StateStat program. (Reports for most state agencies pop up every month or two here.)
A little more digging produced annual report of the Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit, a watchdog arm of the state attorney general’s office. There, the unit detailed not only statistics deemed troublesome, but discussions of the factors contributing to the problems. That includes high levels of overtime and turnover among staff, as well as long waits for youths sitting in detention centers instead of reform schools or treatment programs.
But the people affected by the system helped bring the story to life. Interviews with stakeholders, advocates and watchdogs for juvenile justice painted a more rich picture of the problems. Some were most concerned with the strain violence places on staff, while others lamented the lack of options for youths needing a place to go.
In 2008 Maryland enacted severe regulations regarding the tools residential centers and treatment facilities are able to use. As a result, there are no longer voluntary placement options for some youth where such placement would be appropriate.
“It’s a complex issue,” Nick Moroney, director of the monitoring unit, said of the sources contributing to the violence. “You’re talking about kids who are frustrated and waiting to go to a placement, and not going to the placement.”
Critics of the system, meanwhile, have a lot of ideas when it comes to solutions. “More money” is always a common answer, while others call for more radical change.
MD does not need more money. What it needs is a competent administration which it looks like it might actually be getting under Maroney who seems to be facing reality rather than spewing some politically correct nonsense to appease some interest group with no personal stake.
“The root of the problem is, it’s only through behavior modification that these kids are going to come out differently,” Sen. Jim Brochin said. “They’re not doing it right now.”
While behavior modification is a noble end-goal, the first priority is and always must be the youth’s and staff’s safety. Without a safe environment, the behavior modification Sen. Brochin is calling for will not and cannot take place.
Related stories:
Maryland assaults skyrock at juvenile youth facilities
Juvenile workers in Massachusetts, Maryland and New York say staff assaults to unchecked
Maryland’s security at a District of Columbia Juvenile Center is in question
Maryland’s monitoring unit warns there is no order. The youths have taken over the facilities
Maryland’s Glen Burnie student charged in school fight and used a retractable baton
Maryland’s baby booking juvenile justice centers serves to harden criminals not reform them
Tags: maryland juvenile justice, nick maroney, Senator Jim Brochin