Ohio youth prison system gets new leadership
Just months after the family of a 17year-old who died in custody sued the state, Gov. Mike Dewine’s administration quietly replaced the top leader at the Ohio Department of Youth Services.
Director Ryan Gies left his job for a position at the Ohio Department of Public Safety on Dec. 4. Gies’ note to
DYS staff revealed no reason for the change, and he declined to comment on this story. Dewine’s office declined to answer questions about why Gies left.
Julie Walburn, who served as assistant DYS director, also left for a projects supervisor job at public safety.
Meanwhile, the department is facing a lawsuit over the death of a 17-year-old Robert Wright in custody and questions about unapproved purchases. The Department of Youth Services operates three detention facilities for juvenile felony offenders ages 10 to 21. It serves nearly 400 youths.
What happened to Robert Wright
The changes in top staff came after Cincinnati attorney Al Gerhardstein filed a case in the Ohio Court of Claims on behalf of Robert’s family. Wright
died Aug. 31, 2020, while being held at Circleville Juvenile Correctional Facility.
The lawsuit alleges DYS staff slept while on duty, delayed checks on the teen and failed to give emergency medical aid. Employees also failed to address Robert’s medical concerns, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit states Robert reported chest pain and severe headaches for five months leading up to his death, but DYS staff never properly assessed his symptoms to determine what was wrong.
Robert was found alone and unresponsive in his cell in an “honor dorm” at the facility. An autopsy attributed the death to “amphetamine intoxication with contributing congenital cardiovascular disease.”
Two separate investigations failed to determine where the amphetamine came from. A deputy coroner reported that the amount of drugs in Robert’s system was “very low” and inconsistent with the levels found in overdose victims.
Robert died three months before he was due to be released from detention. His mother, Consandra Wright, said she hopes the lawsuit will bring to light exactly what happened to her son.
Sleeping on the job
An internal investigation by DYS found corrections officers were sleeping on the job and failed to conduct rounds the night the 17-year-old died. Staff was slow to respond and summoned medical attention once they found him unresponsive. Few, if any, officers had been certified in CPR that year.
Two operations managers, three juvenile corrections officers and a nurse were disciplined but no one was fired. An investigation by the Ohio State Highway Patrol did not result in any criminal charges.
One of those tasked with conducting the internal investigation was facility resource administrator Tim Mahaffey.
Mahaffey was fired from DYS in 2012 after a youth was inappropriately released with no support or resources in an unfamiliar city after a court hearing. Mahaffey appealed his removal, settled his case in 2017 and returned to work that March.
Consandra Wright said she isn’t surprised by the changes in leadership at
DYS. She spoke directly to Gies following the investigations.
“When they did tell me about the punishments from the disciplinary hearing, it was like that was enough,” she said. “It definitely was not enough. Every time I spoke with them I grew more and more upset. I know people know more than what’s going on.”
In the wake of Robert’s death, DYS removed the medical director, canceled the Circleville physician’s contract and added two new health care oversight positions and changed medication distribution policies.
Last month, Amy L. Ast replaced Gies as DYS director. Ast previously worked at DYS from 1996 to 2017 in the central office and at two of the juvenile facilities. Gies had worked at DYS since 1993.
Other problems
Earlier this year, an Ohio Inspector General report found that Circleville facility staff bought $900 worth of video games rated “mature” and allowed youth at the facility to play the games without approval from the appropriate channels.
The facility staff also bought other equipment that was never used or approved. Items purchased, such as a $2,470 golf cart and a $1,379 sound system, were never properly accounted for and were not given an inventory number for tracking purposes.
Other items bought without proper approval from the state include an X-ray machine and electrical lighting for a new game room. Some items purchased, such as the X-ray machine, were never used.
Since 2019, DYS has been sued by five employees for discrimination complaints.
Additionally, two nuns with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart alleged they suffered from harassment and defamation by DYS staff while volunteering at the Circleville facility. They lost their case, which was filed in 2019.
On Tuesday, Ohio Representative Sedrick Denson, D-bond Hill, issued a statement urging for transparency at DYS. He said there is a high rate of sexual victimization within juvenile correctional facilities in the state.
“Ohio’s juvenile detention centers have a long history of abuse,” Denson said. “But with new leadership comes an opportunity for change and growth.”
Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other organizations.