Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Colo. Closes Youth Prison
> DENVER (AP) -- It was the suicide of a 13-year-old boy
> that first got state officials worried.
>
> Their two-month investigation found more problems:
> female staffers who had sex with boys, physical and
> verbal and emotional abuse of inmates.
>
> On Monday, the state revoked the license of the High
> Plains Youth Center, concluding that the prison posed a
> danger to the inmates. It will be shut down Thursday
> and the 69 remaining inmates sent to institutions in
> their home states.
>
> Barbara McDonnell, head of the Department of Human
> Services, said High Plains' staff was unqualified and
> insufficient for the number of inmates. The center also
> admitted youths with special mental and emotional
> health needs ``when it was neither licensed nor
> qualified to serve them,'' she said.
>
> Rebound Corp., which operates the prison and four other
> facilities in Colorado, will comply with the ruling,
> according to spokesman Tom Schilling. On Friday, the
> company filed a notice of intent to sue the state for
> false statements.
>
> The investigation began in February, when an inmate
> from Utah committed suicide at the prison in Brush, 75
> miles northeast of Denver.
>
> The boy hanged himself in his cell during the night,
> when only one staff member was available to monitor
> more than 40 youths. His death wasn't discovered for
> more than four hours, even though room checks were
> required every five minutes.
>
> The investigation documented four cases of sexual
> abuse, seven of physical abuse, 10 of neglect and one
> of emotional abuse.
>
> Jane O'Shaughnessy, Rebound's chief executive officer,
> told lawmakers earlier this month that the allegations
> of child abuse and neglect were overblown.
>
> ``Things happen in institutions,'' O'Shaughnessy said
> last week. ``You should be judged on what you did
> afterward. You find something, you get rid of people,
> you take other responsible, professional action.''
>
> O'Shaughnessy said four staffers were disciplined after
> trimming an inmate's Mohawk haircut to meet the proper
> standards, while six other guards were punished after
> illegally screening the horror-supense film ``Seven''
> to inmates.
>
> Since the probe, High Plains' inmate population fell to
> 80 from a maximum of 184. Colorado pulled out 40
> inmates and other states -- including Nebraska and West
> Virginia -- soon followed.
>
> Gov. Roy Romer said he had ``had it'' with reports of
> bad management, and called for its operators to clean
> it up, or shut it down. On Monday, the prison's license
> was pulled following a legislative hearing.
>
> McDonnell did not know if Rebound would attempt to
> reinstate its license at the center, which opened in
> 1988.
>
> Other Rebound facilities -- they have one in Virginia,
> one in Utah and three others in Colorado -- have not
> been in similar trouble, records show.
>
> Some state lawmakers question whether the state has
> gone too far in relying on private prisons.
>
> ``My concern has always been whether we can retain
> control to protect inmates and the public. I don't want
> to become so dependent on private facilities we lose
> control,'' said Sen. Dottie Wham, R-Denver.
--
Two rules in life:
1. Don't tell people everything you know.
2.
Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
