Youth home management faulted

LEARNING LESSONS

Panel recommends beefed-up oversight, staff training at Macomb Juvenile Justice Center
A committee delving into problems at the Macomb Juvenile Justice Center was surprised to learn that corrections officers received little training on how to handle the young inmates, the committee chairman said Sunday. Also surprising to the blue-ribbon committee members was that there were no written manuals on policies, procedures and operations at the facility. A report compiled by the committee after the six-month study was expected to be released today by the Macomb County Board of Commissioners. The report calls for numerous changes including mandatory training for staff, creation of policy and procedures manuals, and appointment of a 13- to 16-member citizens committee to help oversee the operation of the center, formerly called the Macomb County Youth Home.

The study was prompted by complaints from parents of inmate abuse, repeated reports from the state about the facility failing to meet Michigan standards, and misconduct by some staff members. The lack of training and oversight by center administrators was at the heart of the problem, said committee chairman John B. Bruff, a retired Macomb Circuit Court judge who also is involved in the county community corrections committee. Bruff said the inefficiencies at the center go back to at least 1992, but it wasn’t until County Commissioner Phil DiMaria, D-Eastpointe, started clamoring for changes this year that the situation turned around. DiMaria, chairman of the board’s judiciary and public safety committee, appointed the blue-ribbon committee and made several changes at the facility, including a ban on strip searches of the young inmates.

“The administration obviously wasn’t doing its job,” Bruff said. “We were very surprised they (corrections staff) didn’t have training. The board of commissioners had provided the money for training, but they never used it.

“Ron Gekiere (the former superintendent of the center) said he couldn’t get the staff to come to training, but when we talked to the union, they said they wanted training. “There was a need for a book on policies and procedures, and they didn’t have that. That was a surprise, too. What we got (from the study) was very disappointing,” Bruff said.

Gerald Alsip, a child-care administrator who runs the center, was unavailable for comment. Efforts were unsuccessful to reach Gekiere. He retired July 1 during the height of controversy about the center, but he said it had nothing to do with his departure.

Other key recommendations:

The board of commissioners should maintain jurisdiction over the center. Chief Macomb Circuit Court Judge Peter Maceroni was the overseer, but he handed over those duties to the board several months ago.
Adopt a mission statement for the center that “at a minimum ... shall support the humane treatment including mental and intellectual growth” of young inmates.
Create an intake center that would diagnose mental and physical disorders of inmates and determine their educational need.
Improve the morale situation at the center by eliminating the practice of requiring staff members to work three weekends per month.
The center’s director should find alternatives to incarceration at the youth home and also establish a sub-committee to the citizens committee that would aim at preventing repeat offenders.
The county board of commissioners should appoint the citizens committee by Nov. 1. “Minimum goals” would be to monitor the blue-ribbon committee recommendations and report quarterly to the board on progress on the recommendations. Duties would include writing programs that would prepare the youths for re-entry into the community. The program would be aimed at reducing recidivism by providing job and life skills.

Gene Schabath
23 August 2004

http://www.detnews.com/2004/metro/0408/23/e01-250840.htm

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