Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Public Sector Gulags

New York State shutting state facilities?

<< < (2/11) > >>

Ursus:
Another article coming right on the heels of the one just previous; this one focusing on Gladys Carrión, the commissioner of the state Office of Children and Family Services:

-------------- • -------------- • -------------- • --------------

Official Hopes Prison Crisis May Spur Change
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE
Published: December 15, 2009

ALBANY — After a state task force delivered a withering indictment of New York's juvenile prisons, the head of the agency responsible for the prisons reacted by going on a publicity blitz — not to challenge the findings, but to promote them.

"It is a lever, and I think that is important," Gladys Carrión, the commissioner of the state Office of Children and Family Services, said Monday, in between an interview with a radio station and a meeting with the chairman of the task force. "Usually the lever is the death of a child, and I don't want to see that. If it takes this report to push through change, then good."


Gladys Carrión has the support of child-welfare advocates but draws criticism from unions representing workers at her agency.
Damon Winter/The New York Times

When Ms. Carrión, a lawyer and a former executive at the United Way, took over the department in 2007, her track record as a no-nonsense leader raised hopes that she could overhaul what was widely considered a broken system.

But after almost three years progress has been halting, and the task force, which was appointed by Gov. David A. Paterson last year, described a system rife with problems. Many of the youths at the state's 28 facilities have mental illnesses or drug addictions for which they get inadequate treatment, the report found. Many of those released from state custody are arrested and jailed again within a few years. And despite stringent rules imposed by Ms. Carrión dictating when staff can use physical force, abuse complaints are still common.

The United States Department of Justice, which highlighted serious physical abuse at four prisons in a separate report last summer, has threatened to take over the entire system if the problems are not fixed.

Ms. Carrión and her supporters — including juvenile justice experts and child welfare advocates — blame a combination of bureaucratic inertia, scarce state dollars, and resistance from unions and elected officials to closing or reducing the size of the prisons, many of which are in struggling upstate communities that need the jobs.

Ms. Carrión, 58, a blunt yet cheerful Bronx native who previously was a city community development official and worked as an executive at the United Way of New York City, said she embraced the task force report's findings in part because they revealed the magnitude of the work that remains.

"I have people on staff that have two, three, four, five cases of abuse or inappropriate restraint, and I can't get rid of them" because of civil-service rules, Ms. Carrión said. "I'm also the commissioner of child welfare. If you as a parent abuse your child, I take them away from you. Why is there a different standard for children that are in juvenile justice?"

But her critics, including the unions that represent agency workers, seized on the task force's findings on Monday to argue that Ms. Carrión was the problem.

"If things haven't improved in the three years she's been in this position, the governor should decide what's in the best interests of these kids," said Ken Brynien, the president of the New York State Public Employees Federation.

Some advocates believe there needs to be a greater sense of urgency because the future of many young people in the agency's care is at stake. "The system is turning in a new direction," the task force's report said, "but there is still much more to be done."

Ms. Carrión acknowledged that she needed to do better.

Asked what her biggest failure had been, she did not hesitate before answering.

"My greatest disappointment continues to be the number of restraints in my system — that we still have a correctional model where kids get hurt," she said. "The worst day for me always is when I go visit a facility. I see these children, and it kills me. I grew up in the same communities that these kids come from. I see our future."

Still, she has aggressively downsized the system of state-run youth prisons and diverted resources to community-based care: smaller group facilities located closer to a youth's family that emphasize psychological counseling and rehabilitation, with longer-term residential prisons reserved for the truly dangerous.

"She believes, and I am a proponent as well, that in New York State we have historically overvalued institutional care for the juvenile delinquent population," said Bill Baccaglini, executive director of the New York Foundling, a private child welfare agency, and a former senior official at the Office of Children and Family Services.

Ms. Carrión has closed 11 facilities and has cut the population in the detention facilities by about 50 percent. Cameras have been installed to protect the workers and the youths in custody, Ms. Carrión said.

Workers are required to report every instance in which they use physical restraint, and Ms. Carrión receives a weekly summary. "I read them, and I think everybody holds their breath," she said. "Because if it goes up, they hear from me."

But many workers have resisted the changes, arguing that limits on physical force have put them at risk, pointing to a rise in workplace injuries among agency employees. They also argue that Ms. Carrión underestimates the danger that many youths in custody pose to themselves and others, and that community-based programs are not equipped to handle them.

"The youth are there because they have committed crimes," Mr. Brynien said. "Many of them pled down from violent crimes. Some of them are larger than the staff, some are involved in gangs. To portray them as children who are locked away and shouldn't be is a very oversimplified view."

Despite the harsh spotlight on her agency, Ms. Carrión still seems to have the support of her boss, Governor Paterson, who praised the task force's report as well as Ms. Carrión, saying she "has done everything possible to provide better care for the mentally disabled."

Ms. Carrión's efforts may get a boost when the state finishes negotiating a plan to address the problems in its juvenile justice system with the Department of Justice, which could compel the agency to institute a more aggressive overhaul.

"This is like a huge ship," Ms. Carrión said. "Trying to turn it around is very difficult."

A version of this article appeared in print on December 16, 2009, on page A36 of the New York edition.


Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

Whooter:
This move to the “Missouri model” will be a great step for all the more serious juvy offenders who are placed into programs through the justice system and the acknowledgment that one of the keys to success is a smooth transition back into society is encouraging.  Moving from the present "state run facility" mentality to one that is more closely modeled after the private sector will not only reduce costs by 50% or more for tax payers but will reduce the rate at which these kids end up back in front of a judge.  They are local and also provide a therapy component, although I know that many here are opposed to any therapy which is not voluntary.   This is a step up from the existing programs,  especially in the state of New York where I heard the places were terrible.

For those families who can afford an alternative the private Therapeutic boarding schools will still be a better option because the majority of these kids are not serious offenders and also can avoid getting a record which could affect college acceptance in many cases.

But whether the crimes are serious or not the kids need to be taken off the streets.  The judges have no other choice in this matter.



...

blombrowski:

--- Quote from: "Whooter" ---They are local and also provide a therapy component, although I know that many here are opposed to any therapy which is not voluntary. This is a step up from the existing programs, especially in the state of New York where I heard the places were terrible.

For those families who can afford an alternative the private Therapeutic boarding schools will still be a better option because the majority of these kids are not serious offenders and also can avoid getting a record which could affect college acceptance in many cases.

But whether the crimes are serious or not the kids need to be taken off the streets. The judges have no other choice in this matter.
--- End quote ---

You either knowingly contradict yourself or you have no idea what you're talking about.

1)  Juvenile records are expunged.  They should have no impact on college admissions.  The only impact that a juvenile court record might have when it comes to college admission is what the name of the school on the high school transcript says.  Yeah, go ahead and play on parents' fear.

2)  The New York State OCFS facilities are terrible, we also have lots of other RTC's and one TBS in our state that are also terrible.  All different kinds of terrible, but terrible none the less.  

3)  What makes the difference in the Missouri model is something that no therapeutic boarding school does to my knowledge, is that they keep kids in their communities, and allow them to have regular interactions with their families.  For the private industry to even approach what Missouri does, they would have to build small group home like settings in the areas that they recruit their families from.  Don't go praising the Missouri model on one hand and then praising it's polar opposite on the other.

Whooter:

--- Quote from: "blombrowski" ---You either knowingly contradict yourself or you have no idea what you're talking about.
--- End quote ---
Neither, I understand your sensitivity to the subject but you have to be intimately familiar with the industry from a standpoint other than having attended a program to understand.  Here are the bases for my original thinking:


--- Quote ---1) Juvenile records are expunged. They should have no impact on college admissions. The only impact that a juvenile court record might have when it comes to college admission is what the name of the school on the high school transcript says. Yeah, go ahead and play on parents' fear.
--- End quote ---
They “Should” have no impact but they do.  Having a name like “Academy at Swift River” as the  present name of your highschool vs. a New York State detention center makes a big difference to the college acceptance board.  I think we can all agree here.  Believe me they will find a reason to reject you.


--- Quote ---2) The New York State OCFS facilities are terrible, we also have lots of other RTC's and one TBS in our state that are also terrible. All different kinds of terrible, but terrible none the less.
--- End quote ---
Exactly, I hear you on this one, that’s why New York is looking outside their State for solutions.


--- Quote ---3) What makes the difference in the Missouri model is something that no therapeutic boarding school does to my knowledge, is that they keep kids in their communities, and allow them to have regular interactions with their families. For the private industry to even approach what Missouri does, they would have to build small group home like settings in the areas that they recruit their families from. Don't go praising the Missouri model on one hand and then praising it's polar opposite on the other.
--- End quote ---
No, the therapeutic Boarding Schools are not local that is one of their drawbacks.  But they do offer therapy in a group setting and also one on one.  They typically have a better staff to student ratio than state run facilities and most have an effective transitional program for when the kids move back into society (as a couple of examples).  On the other hand Missouri model doesn’t have the freedom to prescreen the kids who enter their program to the point that private TBS’s can which is why Private TBS’s maintain a high success rate.  Also, sometimes removing the child from the family setting is exactly what is needed in cases where the family setting is abusive and the Missouri model would not be very effective here.  So we need to look at the possible solutions from many vantage points to determine success.  They each have their strengths and weaknesses.



...

Anonymous:
Once again as I posted over the thread concerning the Missouri. Most 95% of these kids are not from middle or upper class lets just get honest. They don't have many options of getting sophisticated thraputic help especially w/ the family.
Which in most cases is one parent and maybe a grandparent. The ethic group is not always minority, I was one of these cases and I am as white as a "Gandorf the White". It is the crimes that brought us all together in these institutions.
Treatment centers today are not taking these cases as much today b/cuz of liability, not b/cuz they don't want them....shit they would take them in a heart beat lock them down just to get there hands on that steady cash flow from the states.
Remember Elan we took these cases back in the 70's, this is the only time I know about could have been more years there....75-78.....rapist,molesters, man slaughter, atempted murders, car theft/jacking, kidnapping, severe mental diseases, eating disorders, autism,drug/alcohole addicts and cases I can't even get into until I understand more of the legal process here. What I can say is we wharehoused them. Until consequences came, frustrations w/staff for being unable to deal w/these cases so on and so forth, we kno the drill.
Now I will say this going to Elan vice staying in juvie in 1975 was a no brainer go to Elan....Juvie was violently insane...Elan was just insane.
I applaude Missouri for making the effort to take my kin folk (young criminals) and w/ whatever family they can scrap up
and try w/ a sincere sophisticated educational/treatment system, to help these folks.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page