The story in the Hartford Courant focused on a report by
Child Advocate office. In this report there is condemnation of Youth Service
Officers at Connecticut Juvenile Training School and “violent restraints,
takedowns, and seclusions of residents.” While this blog appreciates the Child
Advocate report and need to protect children in Department of Children and
Family care, in this case blaming YSOs for problems at CJTS misses the point.
According to the report put out by the Child Advocate office there were over
one hundred residents housed at CJTS in the past year or so. However the
resident population is now half of that number [around 70-80 residents].
Sources inform this blog that CJTS is still hiring employees at a staggering
rate and haphazard manner. This is only highlighted to point out how
dysfunctional management is on the DCF Plantation. How can you hire more
employees for less residents? Many of these recent hires go to the Pueblo Unit
[female facility] with a population of four residents. Yet the emphasis is
not on dysfunctional CJTS management but the YSOs – a convenient scapegoat- for
“violent takedowns” of residents. Since the report came out in the Courant,
management is calling for some sort of meeting, possibly this week, to discuss
issues with YSOs. Say what?!! Why is not the focus on dysfunctional leadership
at this critical juncture?
Whenever there are problems at CJTS management always blame
YSOs. A correct analysis of the situation should be aimed at top tier
management. In the recent past YSOs have given the CJTS Superintendent votes of
no confidence, claiming he never is around or receptive to YSO needs. In
addition there is never any real interaction from staff to employees, except
when it is time for disciplinary measures to be meted out. Those people running
DCF keep ignoring that which is obvious; if employees keep failing to do their
job, ( as being alleged ) then it has to do with failure (s) to communicate
properly. Failure in concise patterns of dialogue must be place on the back of
management. However for some strange reason CJTS leadership is allowed to keep
operating this multi- million dollar facility called CJTS. That place produces
one scandal after another : 1.) White staff calling residents of color “porch
monkeys”, 2.) Resident escape attempt by climbing over the fence with a sheet
and dressed in street clothing, 3.) Class action lawsuit by five employees of
color, 4.) Allowing Supervisor in building # 4 to abuse Workers Compensation
repeatedly, 5.) Dual standards of discipline for white YSO who slapped a
resident of color [received only mild discipline] as juxtapose to employees
of color who are fired for lesser infractions.
Now it has come to the DCF Plantation blog’s attention that
CJTS management is dispensing inordinate amounts of overtime at their facility
with fewer residents. Let me be clear. Not only is management hiring more people
haphazardly but giving out more overtime. This last point of copious amounts of
overtime is caused by management not knowing how to allocate time scheduling.
Again a certain member of management cannot figure out how to place employees
in appropriate time slots, ergo more overtime is utilized to fill in scheduling
openings.
How in the name of all that is holy can you operate CJTS
with all of the above mentioned [and that is only a fraction of the crap that
goes on] dysfunctional flotsam in that facility?
In the final analysis it is the opinion of this writer that
blame for what is being reported by the Child Advocate is not on YSOs but
dysfunctional management. Who has the courage to throw the management bums out
of office?
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