“There are more questions than answers remaining about
March 24, 2007 by
Thursday March 8,
It was an ignoble end for a storied highly touted facility of fifty years in an otherwise discredited juvenile services system in
Mr. Simmons died while being physically restrained after it is alleged that he threatened another student. In a January 27 Bowling Brook press release it was revealed, “When Isaiah became threatening, our staff responded for his safety and the safety of others… (H)e was restrained humanely consistent with state-approved discipline policies and counseled throughout to de-escalate the crisis.”
A transcript of the 911 tape reveals a Bowling Brook employee saying, “It was the same thing we do all the time when we have an aggressive kid. I don't know what happened. He was in a restraint, and then he stopped responding.”
This tragic death is horrible but nevertheless situational – not systemic.
As the number of juvenile offenders has exploded in recent years,
In the face of a federal lawsuit and the outcry of juvenile advocates, facilities such as the widely discredited
However this only exacerbated the
Gov. Martin O’Malley’s answer to the crisis in juvenile services was to close Bowling Brook and announce in his supplemental budget, $6.8 million to re-open Victor Cullen just several miles from Bowling Brook; for only 48 students. That discredited facility has remained “temporarily” closed since April 2002 due to budget constraints. Where did Governor O’Malley suddenly find $6.8M?
At a time when
Why have folks, who once praised the facility, quickly change their tune and sing that Bowling Brook was a victim of its own success and had grown too large?
If the “successful”
Why did the Maryland General Assembly overwhelmingly pass House Bill 1148 and Senate Bill 503 in 2005 exempting Bowling Brook from 2004 legislation mandating a capacity limit of 48 for juvenile facilities?
Governor O’Malley’s “Transition Committee for Juvenile Services Report,” issued on February 21, 2007 “strongly recommend(ed) that the new administration proceed quickly with making strategic, evidence-based reforms … addressing problems proactively.”
Is closing the highly acclaimed Bowling Brook, within days of the issuance of the report, “addressing problems proactively” with “strategic, evidence-based reforms?” Exactly why did Mr. Simmons die while being “restrained humanely consistent with state-approved discipline policies?” Why not address that problem proactively?
How are juvenile facilities to appropriately restrain a juvenile offender who is physically threatening other students? Do the state-approved discipline policies for restraint need to be changed with “evidence-based reform” to avoid another tragedy? Why not spend some of the newly minted $6.8M for additional study to change the standards and provide additional training.
How often does a community rally to have a juvenile facility in their own back yard? Many hope that Governor O’Malley will address the challenges of
The writer is the former mayor of Westminster 2001-2005.
His e-mail address is kdayhoff@carr.org
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Sunday, March 25th, 2007 UPDATE: I’m certainly encouraged by the thoughtful and responsible feedback I have received on this post in “comments.”
(For more posts and information on “Soundtrack” please click on Bowling Brook.)
Please keep in mind that letters to editor are also very important in addition to letters to Governor O’Malley and Secretary DeVore.
Letters to the editor can be e-mailed to: jjoyner@patuxent.com
Mr. Jim Joyner, Editor
(410) 386-0334 ext. 5004
I would love for The Westminster Eagle to have a page or several pages of letters to the editor …
Please pass the word. We need as many thoughtful, respectful, and polite letters as possible to go to Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and Maryland Juvenile Services Secretary Donald W. DeVore.
I have assured many folks that the letters need not to be long or over-thought. Push comes to shove, a hand written note with several sentences expressing support is really all that is needed.
Whispers in the hallways of
The addresses once again:
The Honorable Governor Martin O’Malley
Office of the Governor
The Honorable Secretary Donald W. DeVore
One
Thank you. There are many young adults that face an uncertain future as a result of being relocated from Bowling Brook to one of the failed state-run facilities. The quicker Bowling Brook is back in operation, the quicker hope may be restored to the lives of many young men.
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I understand that there was a DJJ employee stationed full time at Bowling Brook since late spring of last year. This was a probation officer that was assigned exclusively to Bowling Brook to help transition graduating MD kids to the community. He had his own office at the school and was working very closely with the students and staff members. He was not just any employee, he was participating in the DJJ leadership development program. This man had nothing but praise for the school. He did not raise any red flags, and he certainly did not consider it an unsafe environment.
ReplyDeleteFrom newspaper reports, it is clear that MD pulled out nearly all of their kids, but the other states (just PA?) left the vast majority of their kids in the program. Did the leaders in PA disagree with MD's assessment of the school? Surely they would not leave their students in an unsafe program.
ReplyDeleteSenator Zirkin from Baltimore County seems to be initiating most of the new legislation, including a drive to regionalize the state. He has also made negative comments about Bowling Brook in the press. Has anyone asked him if he has ever visited the school and made a first hand asssessment? Is he using the possibly isolated tragedy at Bowling Brook as a convenient opportunity to bring his agenda to fruition?
ReplyDeleteThe new leader of DJJ, Devore, has indicated that he toured the school after the incident and shortly before he took office. He indicated that the school was in a crisis situation. Yet, it wasn't until later when the school announced its closing that Devore removed the remaining handful of MD students. If the school was truly in a crisis situation, why didn't Devore have the remaining MD students removed immediately? Why didn't he take them with him when he left the school on the day of this tour?
ReplyDeleteWhy was the school mentioned in the following article allowed to remain in operation and Bowling Brook was closed?
ReplyDeletehttp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4183/is_20060526/ai_n16436741/print
" A 17-year-old yesterday filed a $10 million lawsuit in Baltimore City Circuit Court against a nonprofit home for emotionally troubled adolescents, alleging that two supervisors encouraged him to fight another boy, were slow to get him medical attention afterwards and then tried to cover up the incident. Robert A. Anderson Jr., who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other emotional problems, claims he required extensive surgery to correct multiple fractures to his face and nose he sustained during the fight . . .
Anderson, who no longer resides at Woodbourne, was placed at the center last July by the Charles County Department of Juvenile Services in order to treat his aggressive personality, the suit states. He alleges that Finney and Smith intended to use the fight to further punish Anderson, for going over their heads to report aggressive behavior by other Woodbourne residents to administrators."
While this kid did not lose his life, the incident is definitely a shock to the conscience. Did Woodbourne have politically connected friends?
That link does not work, here's the whole article:
ReplyDeleteDaily Record, The (Baltimore) > May 26, 2006 > Article > Print friendly
Boy, 17, blames teen-home supervisors for fight between residents
Daniel Ostrovsky
A 17-year-old yesterday filed a $10 million lawsuit in Baltimore City Circuit Court against a nonprofit home for emotionally troubled adolescents, alleging that two supervisors encouraged him to fight another boy, were slow to get him medical attention afterwards and then tried to cover up the incident.
Robert A. Anderson Jr., who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other emotional problems, claims he required extensive surgery to correct multiple fractures to his face and nose he sustained during the fight.
According to the complaint, the incident occurred last October while several residents of Woodbourne Center Inc.'s residential facility in Northeast Baltimore were on a field trip to a go-cart facility.
Anderson alleges that supervisors Trennard Finney and Alexander Smith directed him and Charles Green III to a wooded area so the two boys could settle their differences.
Finney and Smith, along with other Woodbourne residents, allegedly watched and waited nearby at the parking lot as Anderson was bleeding, lost consciousness and sustained his injuries.
On the ride back to Woodbourne, Anderson complained that his nose was sitting on the side of his face, and the supervisors stopped at a gas station to treat his wounds, the complaint says. He was later taken to the Good Samaritan Hospital's emergency room, he alleges.
From there, Anderson was transferred to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland, the suit states.
Finney and Smith then falsely reported to the police, hospital staff and Woodbourne officials that Anderson tripped and fell getting out of a van, and told Anderson and other residents to give the same story, the suit alleges.
Woodbourne Executive Director Stanley E. Weinstein, who is named as a defendant along with Finney, Smith and the center, did not return a call for comment yesterday.
Anderson, who no longer resides at Woodbourne, was placed at the center last July by the Charles County Department of Juvenile Services in order to treat his aggressive personality, the suit states.
He alleges that Finney and Smith intended to use the fight to further punish Anderson, for going over their heads to report aggressive behavior by other Woodbourne residents to administrators.