PORTLAND, Maine (AP) Boredom, severe staffing shortages and group punishments are among the main factors that led to seven “critical incidents” in two months at Maine’s only youth prison, according to an outside report.
The state Department of Corrections commissioned the report from the Center for Children’s Law and Policy, which has twice before reviewed aspects of Maine’s juvenile justice system. The Portland Press Herald obtained a copy of the report Wednesday.
The department has not released complete information about the incidents, but the newspaper reported they involved groups of teenagers held at the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland destroying $160,000 worth of property in August and September.
“Boredom has been one of the main reasons behind much of the acting-out behavior by youth. With little to do during the day … youth are left to their own devices and engage in disruptive behavior,” the report authors wrote.
At the beginning of the the coronavirus pandemic, the Department of Corrections suspended visits from outside volunteers to the center, a decision that the report says contributed to detainees having little to do and being left by themselves in their housing for long periods.
Corrections Commissioner Randall Liberty defended the choice to disallow outside visitors.
“We made a deliberate choice to keep the kids safe from COVID by keeping volunteers out,” Liberty said. “We did provide services and we did think critically, but the most important thing we can do is keep our residents healthy and safe.”
Staffing shortages were acute, the report found, which contributed to slow and ineffective responses to problems and a lack of structure. Staff reported feeling scared of the young people detained and scared to physically intervene because policies were unclear and because they were afraid of lawsuits and scrutiny by the press, the report authors found.
In early October when the review was undertaken, there were 19 unfilled staff positions and five teaching positions open.
At that time, 29 young people were detained at Long Creek, the newspaper reported. By mid-October, the number of detainees had increased to 40 and a group again destroyed property, with police responding for more than six hours overnight.
The report also found that staff often punished a whole unit for the misbehavior of one or two people, which was perceived as unfair and eroded relationships between staff and the detained youth.
Maine also lacks any secure psychiatric facilities for youth, the report authors said. Some of the young people detained at Long Creek need mental health treatment, but community mental health programs will not treat people “who in engage in violent behavior,” the report said.
The Department of Corrections is moving toward opening smaller housing units for young people so that they can be closer to their communities, Liberty said. But there are no immediate plans to close Long Creek. In June, Gov. Janet Mills vetoed a bill that would have shuttered the facility, saying there was no safe alternative available for young people in the criminal justice system.
