Juvenile center reports falsified, memo says
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Chicago Sun-Times
By Abdon M. Pallasch, Staff Reporter
July 30, 2006
A confidential memo from a Cook County government analyst
to County Public Safety Director J.W. Fairman Jr. blasts the
county's Juvenile Detention Center for turning over monthly
information that "rarely reflects accurate or reliable
data."
The American Civil Liberties Union has sued the county, claiming
that county politicians have used the center as a jobs farm
instead of a facility to hold and rehabilitate youth awaiting
court hearings for serious crimes.
Required to report to ACLU
Two months after county attorneys had to admit to a federal
judge that they had misled the court about the accuracy of reports
the judge had ordered them to turn over every month to the ACLU,
a county official said even the internal reports were false.
"I would suggest to you that the superintendent identify
for you those individual[s] who are accountable for the accuracy
of the information that the center releases," business
manager Reid Paxson wrote. "Most of the information released
from the center seems to be an exercise without consequence.
The monthly information released by the [juvenile center] and
received by your office rarely reflects accurate or reliable
data."
Population counts, length of stay and statistical totals are
all off, Paxson said in his April 19 memo to Fairman. The center
tracks employee tardiness but then does not discipline tardy
employees, Paxson wrote. Fairman said through a spokeswoman
Friday that he would have to wait until Monday to consult with
Paxson about the memo and what, if any, follow-up was done.
As a result of the ACLU's lawsuit, a federal judge ordered the
center to admit a compliance administrator, Brenda Welch, who
laid out in reports that become public last week just how bad
the situation at the center still is:
*Asked why he never reassigned staff accused of abusing children
away from direct contact with children as ordered by the court,
center director Jerry Robinson told Welch it had "slipped
his mind."
*Youth on suicide watch in the medical section are supposed
to be checked on every 15 minutes. Instead, staff, when they
are awake, check much less frequently if at all and forge cards
to say they have made checks every 15 minutes, Welch wrote.
*Instead of giving the youth new underwear every day, they hand
them out a few times a week, and that is why residents often
wash underwear and socks in their sinks and hang them to dry.
Robinson told Welch he was unaware staff did not wash residents'
underwear.
*Visiting the center at 4 a.m., when counselors are supposed
to be watching the sleeping residents, Welch found eight counselors
asleep, five missing and five running toward ringing phones
as news of her 4 a.m. visit spread.
*A visit to the center's school found kids running and yelling
in the hall. In history class, one student read his e-mail.
Another played Internet spades. A third looked up the latest
release of Nike gym shoes.
Mental health care lacking
*A resident stood on a desk with a sheet around his neck apparently
trying to commit suicide. A caseworker said he could not come
up to check on the resident because he was working in the visitation
room. Mental health staff could not be located.
*A girl was slicing her arm. "Numerous attempts were made
to the on-call psychologist with no response," Welch wrote.
*At 2 p.m. July 6, a counselor began paging mental health for
a boy talking about killing himself. The professional arrived
at 3:56 p.m.
