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Public
Employee Press Juvenile Counselors
seek help against violence
Safety on the job is a daily concern of Juvenile Counselors,
who are often assaulted and threatened by the incarcerated youths they watch over.
Local
1457 has charged that training at the Dept. of Juvenile Justice is inadequate
to help the counselors deal with their dangerous working conditions.
And
DJJ personnel policies add financial danger. Management is quick to suspend counselors
who face groundless child abuse complaints without pay, but slow to investigate
whether the charges are true.
Members of Juvenile Center Employees Local
1457 are often forced out of work for extended periods on frivolous charges while
DJJ drags its feet, according to Local 1457 President Alex Parker.
The
agencys sluggishness creates unnecessary hardships for counselors, who sometimes
are out so long that they go off payroll and lose benefits before they are exonerated,
he said.
Accompanied by Local 1457 Vice President Derek Robinson at an
April 21 hearing of the City Councils Juvenile Justice Committee, Parker
painted a bleak picture of the violence members face daily.
Years ago,
the confined youths tended to be bad kids who typically misbehaved
and readily challenged counselors but were not prone to wild outbursts of violence.
Today
many in the citys three lockup facilities for youths are substance abusers
or mentally disturbed, requiring more training for counselors than the agency
provides, said Parker.
He urged the committee to press DJJ to improve training
to protect members safety.
The department offers training perhaps
every year or two, but members need more frequent sessions with better instruction
on physical restraint and negotiating with menacing residents, said Parker.
Local
1457 represents more than 450 counselors, and too many have been brought up on
false child abuse allegations, Parker testified.
In addition, a Local 1457
member gets suspended about every two weeks, because the agency feels they are
negligent or too aggressive, Robinson told PEP.
Parker said a gang
culture permeates the facilities, where the incarcerated youths feel they
can get away with intimidating counselors and provoking physical confrontations.
One
resident has assaulted 25 female Local 1457 members, according to Parker.
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