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| Miss. Issues Report Responding to Finding of Abuse in Juvenile Training Schools |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 07/30/2003 |
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Mississippi officials have released a report detailing what they have done to correct a pattern of physical abuse found by the Justice Department at Mississippi's two juvenile training schools. The response by the state Department of Human Services was released by state Rep. George Flaggs, who said the state had failed to provide enough money to the department. ''It is grossly unfair for us to expect (the) agency to supervise so many children and then underfund it,'' Flaggs said. The Justice Department said last week that adolescents at two training schools had been hogtied, chained to poles and forced to eat their own vomit. The findings were based on interviews conducted with students and employees last year. The document also said the schools had too many unfilled jobs. DHA's response to the Justice Department addressed each issue raised. The response, submitted last week, said some of those practices had been discontinued or modified. Willie Blackmon, the head of youth services for DHS, said the agency has hired an outside auditor to assess both schools and to make recommendations. He said internal auditors would make continuous assessments and a new post had been established to investigate and respond to abuse reports. Three top administrators were taken off their jobs at Columbia Training School and Oakley Training School, near Raymond, following release of the federal review and given paid, off-campus duties while the state conducts its own probe. The government review said the ''staff at Oakley and Columbia use excessive force with impunity.'' The report said boys were forced to run around tables for hours with mattresses on their backs while girls were punished ''by being forced to run with automobile tires around their bodies or carrying logs.'' Girls also ''reported being forced to eat their own vomit if they throw up from exercising in the hot sun,'' the review said. In its response, the Department of Human Services said staff training has been provided on restraints and self-defense and a windowless isolation cell where girls were punished has been dismantled. In addition, according to the department, the use of pepper spray, straitjackets, psychiatric belts and violent offender chairs have been discontinued, and punishments of squat thrusts, push-ups and jumping jacks are not to exceed 25. On Tuesday, a group of lawmakers, DHS officials and journalists toured the 300-student Oakley school and the 200-student Columbia school. The group was shown a clean campus lined with a mix of old and new brick buildings. However, students, staff and educational classrooms were off-limits. During the tour, Flaggs, a Democrat, said the release of the Justice Department report appeared timed to hurt the administration of Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, a Democrat seeking re-election. Musgrove is expected to face Republican Haley Barbour in November. ''Well, one of their good guys is running for governor of this state,'' Flaggs said of the Bush administration. Quinton Dickerson, a spokesman for Barbour, called Flaggs' accusation ''ridiculous.'' The Justice Department did not immediately return calls seeking comment. |
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