In response to recent abuse cases in state juvenile prisons, Gov. Bob Taft approved a plan Friday to allow more government oversight of the facilities.
The Correctional Institution Inspection Committee, originally created to supervise adult prisons, is now providing oversight to youth prisons as well.
Most of the recent abuse cases occurred at Scioto Juvenile Correctional Facility in Delaware County -the only youth prison for girls in Ohio. Eleven guards have been indicted on charges of sexual and physical assault, according to The Associated Press.
The former superintendent of the facility, Shannon Teague, was relocated after only three weeks in the position for unprofessional behavior. She now works as a mental health administrator in the Ohio Department of Youth Services, said Andrea Kruse, spokeswoman for the department. The facility has hired five superintendents in the past year.
The department operates Ohio's eight youth prisons, where inmates' ages range from 12 to 21.
We (the committee) conduct the inspections
and the staff does the reports and any follow-up that needs to be done said Sen. Mark Mallory, D-Cincinnati, who drafted the legislation. We look at their operations education programs
physical conditions of the place
talk to inmates to determine that there are any problems; we also talk to staff. We are not an inmate advocacy group
but we are there to serve all of the constituents of the Ohio prisons.
Taft and former director of the department, Geno Natalucci-Persichetti, agreed that new leadership was needed, said Mark Rickel, a spokesman for Taft.
The committee and the department are still trying to figure out exactly how their relationship is going to work, Kruse said.
It's important because there are a number of problems at Department of Youth Services
and I felt like they really needed outside oversight in order to ensure operations were running correctly
Mallory said. He emphasized the committee is not prejudging the department or its affiliates.
The committee consists of four members of the House and four members of the Senate, totaling four Democrats and four Republicans,
Mallory said.
We are going in to conduct inspections and do the same thing that we have been doing in the adult prisons
he said.
The department is making efforts to fix some of the problems, including improving training programs and reforming the grievance process, Kruse said.
The department will be meeting with the committee throughout the next couple of weeks to establish protocol, she said. We look forward to working with them
and we will be accommodating their requests as best as we can.
