Seclusion, violence drop

Sweeping, state-ordered reform of youth lockup centers has improved the culture at the facilities.

Several of the cold, concrete rooms once used for the solitary confinement of Colorado youths in lockup now hold lounge chairs, teddy bears and, in some cases, video games.

That’s because the state Division of Youth Services — no longer called “Youth Corrections” because of 2017 state law that ordered sweeping reform — hasn’t been using seclusion nearly as often.

The division, which includes 10 state-run youth centers, has decreased seclusion stays from 302 per month two years ago to 94 per month by its most recent tally in January. Each stay is, on average, about 35 minutes.

Violence inside detention centers also has dropped, according to division statistics. The number of youth-on-staff assaults per month reached a high of 22 in December 2015 and was at 12 last month.

The changes have come after intense scrutiny of the youth corrections system, including a blistering Colorado Child Safety Coalition report last year that detailed pain-compliance techniques used to subdue youths and a body restraint called the “wrap.” But division officials say they

were working on reforms before the legislature took action, and that they have achieved on their own many of the goals outlined in a yet-to-begin 24-bed pilot project passed as part of the reform law.

“A lot of what we have done already are things they had hoped to accomplish in the pilot,” said youth services director Anders Jacobson.

The legislation included $160,000 to transform one unit at Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center from a jail-like atmosphere to more of a home environment, with new furniture to replace metal beds and carpet for living areas. The nonprofit Missouri Youth Services Institute provided consulting for the pilot, hoping to show it can achieve better outcomes for youths with a less punitive, more therapeutic approach. The legislative decision has put the youth services division on guard.

The division had “collected and removed” all wrap devices from youth centers by November, months ahead of a legislatureimposed July 2018 deadline.

And with increased funding to hire 209 new staff members in the last three years, it has improved staffto-youth ratios to 1-to-8 at seven of 10 youth centers, down from about 1-to-16. Still, some centers have ratios as high as 1-to-10 and 1to-11 during waking hours, according to a legislative memo.

Among the key culture changes has been consistently assigning staff members to the same group of youths. Correctional officers are now called youth services specialists, and the job description was rewritten to attract candidates who want to “engage with youth and build positive relationships,” Jacobson said.

Naked strip searches following family visits or transfers to another center are no more, he said. Instead, youths are allowed to wear gowns while they are searched.

The division is dumping the jail-like hospital scrubs worn in youth lockup in favor of a school-like dress code, with polo shirts and khaki pants. About half the centers have the new uniforms now.

Several pods throughout the division have been remodeled, with softer paint colors, plants and better furniture. The division invested in more comfortable mattresses, replacing ones that were just 3 inches thick.

All of it is part of a “culture change,” Jacobson said. “It really feeds into our vision of where we are going.”

Critics of the division who pushed for reform praised the downward trend in seclusion and violence. “This is excellent news,” said Rebecca Wallace, an attorney for ACLU of Colorado and one of the authors of the Colorado Child Safety Coalition report. The division “appears to be embracing and running with the legislative initiatives of the past few years.”

Still, Wallace said she was disturbed by the levels of violence at certain centers, noting that Foote in Englewood, Platte Valley in Greeley and Gilliam in Denver “still have unacceptably high levels.”

Platte Valley, for example, saw a 25 percent increase in assaults and fights per month in a three-year period that ended in 2017, had the most police citations of any youth center and went from zero felonies in fiscal 2014-2015 to 11 in 2016-2017, according to a legislative staff memo.

Wallace said the ACLU continues to hear reports from youths that staff are making false statements to cover up abuse, and the group believes the reporting system lacks transparency, rendering it “inadequate to discover abuse and arguably slanted against the youth and their advocates who make complaints,” she said.

“There is still quite a ways to go if we want to ensure that all children in the custody of DYS are receiving humane, helpful care.”

Violence and crime at Platte Valley are improving, division officials said, while noting the center took on 16 additional youths in 2016 sentenced for their crimes after another facility stopped housing youths who have already been sentenced. Platte Valley holds a mixture of youths who are awaiting charges and those sentenced, unlike some other youth centers.

From inside the walls of Gilliam center in Denver, youth services specialist Lindsey Miller says new training protocols are working.

Staff members are better trained now at using talking points to put youths “in a better mood and try to set the tone,” Miller said. They use breathing exercises, drawing, calls home or a visit with a requested staff member. Youths now fill out a “safety plan” after they are booked in, listing methods they think will work to calm them down.

When a “physical response” is necessary, staff members are used to hold a youth still instead of using a restraint device or pressure-point compliance as in the past, said Miller, who is just 4-foot-11 and 125 pounds, and trains other staff members in de-escalation techniques.

“The biggest thing that we really pride ourselves on is to be able to build a positive relationship with these kids, to be somebody that these kids can feel safe talking to,” said Miller, who initially planned to become a police officer but, after the 2012 Aurora theater shooting, decided she wanted to “intervene” sooner to help youths.

The division now holds about 600 youths, ages 10 to 21, who are awaiting criminal charges or serving sentences.