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Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Ind. Courts - Follow-up on: "St. Joseph County judge has stopped sending female offenders to the Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility"

Updating this ILB entry from March 16 (which contains links to a number of earlier entries), Tim Evans of the Indianapolis Star reports today:

A Northern Indiana judge, who last year stopped placing girls at the Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility because of concerns about safety and educational programming, has resumed using the state facility.

In an Oct. 3 letter to Gov. Mitch Daniels, St. Joseph Probate Judge Peter J. Nemeth said his decision was based on an audit that showed significant improvements had been made.
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Nemeth stopped sending female juveniles to the facility, formerly known as the Indiana Girls School, in December after an assessment by his staff found the detention center was understaffed and lacked adequate rehabilitative and educational services. He also cited reports of sexual activity between inmates and between inmates and staff.

"A great deal of credit belongs to Commissioner Edwin G. Buss, who has taken an active and leadership role in making significant upgrades at the Girls School," Nemeth said in the letter to Daniels.

Nemeth took his complaints to Daniels after he said attempts to work out problems with former DOC Commissioner J. David Donahue were unsuccessful. Donahue resigned in August and was replaced by Buss.

At the time he stopped placing girls at the center, Nemeth said a review turned up numerous deficiencies, including:

» Inadequate staffing to maintain a safe environment.

» Classroom settings that "can only be described as nonproductive at best."

» The lack of vocational programs.

» The failure by the facility psychiatrist in many cases to adequately explain to inmates why they have been placed on psychotropic drugs, to justify their continued use and to provide a monthly follow-up.

A new evaluation conducted in September found significant improvements in educational services and program supervision, as well as a decrease in overt sexual behavior.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 8, 2008 08:33 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts