CALLING RESIDENTS PORCH MONKEYS ?? AND CHAOS AT THE PLANTATION

porch monkey:

A derogatory for a person of African or African American decent. However, it could also mean a generally lazy person. This term came to be when you think of African Americans sitting on their porch chatting it up.

The DCF Plantation has received a number of emails at dcfplantation@gmail.com about a term uttered about black residents at Connecticut Juvenile Training School in Middletown, CT. Several sources claim a white female Youth Service Officer in building # 5 called black & brown residents "porch monkeys." For purposes of clarification the definition of this derogatory term is posted above for readers viewing.  Forgive me for going back to the main issue- this; racial animus flowing freely on the CJTS site is just the latest in a long list of actrocities. People of color complained for years to tone deaf CJTS management with no results. As a result of being in denial of racial incidents at CJTS, this kind of putrid negativity continued. Now a white female YSO is said to have used "porch monkey."  Will employees of color complain about these comments?

A larger issue for this website writer centers around how management allowed a climate to exist where white employees feel it is okay to say such things. Not long ago people of color complained about how a white male YSO harassed employees of color with racially charged missives. It took an Act of Congress for CJTS to reluctantly deal with that situation. It is no longer reasonable for management coming forth with plausible denial claims; in other words the cat has long been out of the bag, racial ill will exists. In the past management tried to cast any racial discourse as work of a few black trouble makers ( concept of the bad negro); yet those voices that were rejected as extreme and hateful are now being validated ( by actions of a few & empirical data).  Will employees of color make official complaints with Human Resources or NAACP?

John the Baptist proclaimed a messiah was coming to earth with a fresh viewpoint for mankind to follow. Historians called him " a voice crying in the wilderness" that no one listened to. Then the truth became flesh as the Bible reads. In a similar vein voices, at CJTS, have cried out about racial animus from white employees. Their words fell on a wilderness of mental indifference from management. John the Baptist lived to hear or see his truth in the flesh ( Jesus). Hell, employees at CJTS have yet to see any real progress in addressing white angst against employees of color. Guess black & brown truth must wait for another voice(s) to make their words into something corporeal ( justice for people treated negatively).

Who said the truth will set you free?

DENIAL OF RACIAL ANIMUS LEADS TO MORE PROBLEMS

There are persistent rumors circulating around Connecticut Juvenile Training School about serious racial issues. At this juncture management has denied that racial discord exist; while complaints of possible right wing racial missives ( posted for employees of color to see), social media intimidation and plain verbal harassment are growing without check. CJTS continues painting some fictitious idyllic picture of their facility as working together in harmony : wonder if that is why there is such denial of right wing activity toward employees of color? For years segments of discord popped up at CJTS, only to be buried by management using threats of termination or other overseer type employees to quell any uprising among the natives.

At this juncture though, the racism is literally seeping out of fissures -of denial- created by white management, determined to maintain a facade of Eden like bliss at CJTS. No publicity firm from Madsion Avenue is capable of hiding what is becoming a real problem- racial animus directed at employees of color. While CJTS trumpets the opening of a new Middletown facility for girls in January 2014, issues of bias / racial animus stink like old fish heads in a June sun. Like those segregationists in the Civil Rights era South, CJTS management fight to maintain what they believe is a way of life ( staying in power plus hegemony over employees). Ah yes, the spirit of Mr. Charley hovers over CJTS like some wraith; attempts to whitewash (no pun intended ) what is going on defies all semblance of logic or reason. In the movie Ghost Busters a river of putrid evil slime flowed underneath a picturesque city. Then one day the evil flowed up from below with negative implications for inhabitants. Now we listen to CJTS officials offer stentorian claims of racial harmony on campus while investigation of right wing activity toward employees of color are quietly muted. That image of subterranean evil in Ghost Busters is relevant to the racial animus flowing underneath fake harmony at CJTS. We await the eruption.

" What hides beneath the dirt one day will come to the light."

   Evidently CJTS management does not believe in the above mentioned quote: like those tobacco chewing segregationist in the old South- they continue themes of  denial and thus head toward a precipice of disaster.

TRYING TO CLEAN HOUSE OR CHICKENS COMING HOME TO ROOST ??

The DCF Plantation blog received some information that must wait on other sources before it is confirmed. Seems as if a certain Connecticut Juvenile Training School employee is in dire straits with management because of certain factors: for years management used this person to do their dirty work and keep employees off balance. In doing this kind of hachet work the employee always kept in good standing with administrators. Disciplinary actions by management always struck others, never the hachet man who strutted around like a rooster in a yard. Now fortunes are reversed and the obedient lackey for CJTS management was sent out of the facility on paid adminstrative leave for various infractions ( more on these infractions in a future story).

People complained about the employee for years while management looked the other way. At this juncture sensible people connecting dots have to ask if, CJTS is trying to clean house ( get rid of evidence they favored one employee and let that person commit infractions others got fired for) or are chickens coming home to roost? It is no secret public opinion is focusing on all the racial turmoil and division at CJTS; can't continue sweeping this stuff under a rug. In order to make it appear CJTS handles all employe issues fairly, the hachet man might have been sacrificed for appearance sake. Maybe CJTS could no longer protect a person who for so long flaunted the rules and made a mockery out of them.

Finally, can it be that praxis by social justice advocates about CJTS bias / discrimination tipped the scales and caused a reckoning for this overseer? Something clearly happened to make CJTS management make a disciplinary move on the hachet man. Just goes to show you nobody is safe at CJTS.

SOLIDARITY OF THE WORKING CLASS IS NECESSARY FOR SURVIVAL

There is a major struggle now going on within the walls of Connecticut Juvenile Training School in Middletown, CT. Employees of the line staff seek to be free from draconian disciplinary actions against them and constant scrutiny by management. It is clear from data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act employees of color are fired more, written up, investigated or singled out for other things. Yet, it is also crystal clear CJTS management only goes after those employees [ ethnicity does not save you if a lower level employee] on the lower rungs of the economic scale: clinicians, top administrators, or teachers seem exempt from what Youth Service Officers ( who manage residents at this locked down facility) experience with frequency---harsh discipline. If change is going to take place- among the workers- at CJTS and other plantation like state run facilities, a major shift in praxis must occur. Solidarity of the working class is necessary among white, black, Latino etc. Only by promoting unity can management be forced to stop their ill treatment of employees whose only crime is to work in a different economic strata. Unity among workers in theory is fine, in reality it is hard to achieve.For years CJTS management played YSOs against each other: people busy beating on one another verbally did not focus on the real problem of inept & vindictive administrators. Now the wheel of change is turning.

However, certain employees refused to be victims of CJTS management and fought back using class action lawsuits and other means of civil disobedience; a level of consciousness raising has taken place and unity is at least more than a possibility. Looking at the disheartening  situation within CJTS ( as it relates to employees of lower economic status) unity seems a reasonable option---for survival. Change does not come through people hoping  tyranny, racism or bias vanishes. Unity among employees with like minded issues, focused on the theme of gaining freedom, bringing about change in conditions is the key.

For all workers at CJTS do not look far this Halloween for goblins, ghosts, hanks, spooks or monsters. Hell, you will see them coming ( as management) to scare employees of the lower economic strata.

STICKING TO THEIR WORLDVIEW LIKE VELCRO

The entire world observed how Tea Party Republicans led by Ted Cruz tried to shutdown the United States government. To make matters worse these mad as a hatter Republicans continued to spin a yarn about trying to promote what most Americans wanted, to appeal ObamaCare ( National Health Insurance plan). It is one thing to believe in something if there is a foundation built on truth to support it. Still Republicans cling to their worldview like velcro:  now Americans are ranting like hell, and GOP poll numbers fall to a low point.

In Middletown , Connecticut another group of adminstrators ( at Connecticut Juvenile Training School ) are just as delusional as Ted Cruz et al. : CJTS management claim they do not have racial issues festering within their facility. Then these same people proceed to show utter disregard for employees of color by implementing unfair disciplinary practices. Data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act beg to differ with obstructionist ranting about equality on the CJTS plantation. Why is it then CJTS management (and Tea Party Republicans ) are sticking to their worldview like velcro? It is reasonable to infer that both groups suffer from several factors-- delusion and the other racial animus; this is the fuel driving ideological trains. Tea Party Republicans think obstructing the policies of President Barack Obama gains acceptance in voters eyes- delusional. Now we look at the racial animus from conservatives toward the first black American president. No person with a modicum of intellect fails to notice the vitriol foaming from mouths of white conservatives about Obama. From waving Confederate flags to saying Obama is a foreigner, the hate is palpable.

 In the CJTS facility delusional thinking reigns supreme among mangement types. Five employees launched a class action lawsuit in 2010, it is clear disciplinary measures against employees of color are unfair ( 66% of all DCF disciplines focus on males of color), Human Resources division are besieged with complaints of bias ( at CJTS). In the midst of all this turmoil CJTS / DCF claim there are no racial... bias issues in their Eden like atmosphere. Yeah right !! If the data points to disparity in discipline toward employees of color can it be inferred racial animus exists?  There is one thing we do not need to speculate on and that is both groups are sticking to their worldview like velcro.

"to know what is right and not do it, is the worse cowardice of all"  --- Confucius

CJTS CONFIDENTIAL : TREATMENT OF GAY EMPLOYEES LEAVES ME WONDERING

I want to first be excused for using the word gay in describing people of different sexual orientations / practice. It is actually preferable these days to say Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender [ LGBT ] when discussing subjects such as this. Now to the matter at hand. Connecticut Juvenile Training School is a study in contradiction(s) when it comes to LGBT employees. I offer case one for consideration to readers of this blog. A few years ago a Latina female was harassed without mercy from a youthful resident because of her sexual orientation & practice. She went to management about those hurtful things being said; but the torment continued and no solace from supervisors. The youth bullied a female and administrators did not respond adequately in ending the hate filled rants. Now for case number two in which a black gay female claimed management singled her out for disciplinary actions based on sexual preferences. Of course in case #2 management claimed policy or procedure issues caused them to discipline a black gay woman.

Treatment of LGBT employees leaves me wondering: most of the energy of CJTS management is directed toward making sure youthful offenders at their facility are coddled beyond belief. When it comes to spreading the love to LGBT employees-- CJTS management start singing that Motown song by the Supremes " baby, baby, where did our love go?" Yes there is a paucity of concern for employees who profess openly different sexual orientations. It will be said that these words of mine are nothing more than half baked truths or to quote Shakespeare "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing." Yet stories circulating on the CJTS plantation seem clear there is a problem: perhaps this issue has to do with a disdain for Youth Service Officers which permeates CJTS. YSO's are low on the class pecking order at CJTS but the first ones called to stop fights, look for shanks ( home made weapons), or get hurt in the line of duty. Oh, and by the way a few of these YSOs are LGBT.

STORY OF SOLOMON NORTHUP AND MODERN PLANTATION EMPLOYEES

               " all means are justified in the war of humanity against it's enemies"
                  ---- Alexander Berkman

A few years ago I purchased a book Twelve Years A Slave by Solomon Northup. I was caught off guard by the fact this sentient human being, Northup lived as a free man in Washington City, only to be kidnapped in 1841. Sold into slavery this educated man was "rescued from a cotton plantation near the red river in Louisiana in 1853." Now a movie has come out about the Northup experience with actor Chiwetel Ejiofor in the role as Solomon. Why do I bring up the book and movie? Well, there are parallels to what one black man went through on a plantation to survive. Juxtapose Northup with employees - Department of Children & Families or Connecticut Juvenile Training School plantations do to survive. Northup played down his intelligence ( white plantation owners feared literate blacks), also worth noting is the fact of how this man allowed brutality to become part of a daily regimen. All around the plantation other slaves gave up hope; beaten down and treated like animals, all human traits erased while leaving vestiges of a personality.

When we look at employees of DCF / CJTS at work on their state facilities ( plantations), similar patterns emerge that relate to Northup. A large number of employees of color on state plantations submerge their true identities as not to be noticed by management. Data obtained through Freedom of Information documents show a higher number of disciplines for blacks & Latino men ( than other ethnic groups). Observations by this writer confirm how employees play low key roles, hoping not to be noticed by white management or overseers of color; infractions such as vocal complaints, e-mails about certain issues, or acting like men and women lead to punishment. In the movie lynching, whippings with leather straps were part of ol' massa's punishment. Today on these new DCF/ CJTS plantations punishment using policy or procedure to " put employees in their place" is common: sad to say, many are accepting such treatment as a means to economically survive on these plantations. Northup et al. ( and others) survived to get a meal or clothing or not be killed. At these new plantations employees survive to get another paycheck, go to a happy hour, or vacation spot, keep Blue Cross / Anthem insurance. Yet, for employees to accomplish this something must be given up; part of employees humanity is thrown away, and thus like slaves of old... state workers lose sight of self.
The movie Twelve Years A Slave is revealing for what happened to a man and how he kept remembering a humanity white people tried to obliterate out of him. Whites on the plantation did not succeed with Northup.
The tragedy on these new state plantations mirror horrors of the past for employees. White management attempt to snuff out humanity among workers, only in this modern version seems like slaves ( employees) are willing to be trod into nothingness.

GIVEN A SECOND FACILITY BUT THE FIRST ONE IS IN CHAOS

The words below are from a recent story in the newspaper and featured on local radio stations.What boggles the mind is how quickly people forget certain things. Connecticut Juvenile Training School is at the center of controversy. A class action lawsuit by five employees, protests outside the facility, petitions against managemnt practices, strife between clinicians and Youth Service Officers, falsification of time cards by quasi-staff, a female teacher accused of being intimate with a male resident, and complaints about a white employee using racial remarks and intimidation of black workers-not to mention a near escape by a resident only weeks ago. Then a white employee actually hit a resident and kept his job.
Now the hiearchy of DCF actually intends to open a facility for girls and hand running this place to CJTS management. Memo: CJTS is in chaos due to lack of management and petty feuds. CJTS management has not proven they can run a dog kennel let alone another facility-for girls no less. I wonder if at this new facility for girls, management will allow the abuse of overtime, by their friends like they do at CJTS??

"The state’s child welfare agency will open a new state-run facility in January to lock up girls who break the law –- a decision that has generated mixed reactions from those who work most closely with these children.
The facility that the Department of Children and Families will open in Middletown at the campus formerly named Riverview Hospital will house 10 to 12 girls on any given day. The plan is to lock up girls  for 30 days who agency officials say have a history of running away from other treatment programs, but their confinement could last up to six months.
Bill Rosenbeck, the leader of the adjacent boys’ detention facility  -- The Connecticut Juvenile Training School -- is the point person for opening the facility for girls.  He said a locked facility is needed to protect these girls from the problems they get into when they run away."
https://www.ctmirror.org/story/2013/10/10/will-locking-troubled-girls-help-state-aims-find-out-new-facility#.UlcyzwW80Ck.twitter

A CHANGE IN VIEWPOINT: ALL WORKERS MUST UNITE !!!

A consistent theme in my organizing efforts of state workers  against bias in the workplace has been
extreme discipline is aimed at employees of color. And this is not a false statement, because Freedom of Information Act documents prove, 66% of all severe disciplines affect employees of color. DCF plantation mantra for two years has been " white administrators are after black-- latino employees." However, it does not escape the notice of this website about a point; workers of different ethnic backgrounds receive the same kind of disrespectful treatment as blacks and latinos. In other words Department of Children & Families plus Connecticut Juvenile Training School treats most employees like horse manure.It is my change in viewpoint that brings a new epiphany " all workers must unite." The e-mails received at dcfplantation@gmail.com from all kinds of state workers are both inspirational and sad: workers trapped in state agencies encumbered by suffociating state bureaucracy that creates 'spirit death' among employees. "All workers must unite."

In order to bring about the kind of freedom from management oppression workers want requires inner resolve. Until recently only a few CJTS workers [ DCFPlantation 5 ] have attempted to standup to bias, racism or discrimination. However, as the pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus points out " change is a important element." Change is coming to the DCFPlantation, it will not be something which occurs suddenly; people in power will throw road blocks in workers way. We have to also acknowledge state employees sold out to self aggrandizement will betray the cause of worker unity. In the final analysis my change in viewpoint is fixed in the ideological heavens: "all workers must unite."

YOU NEED MORE WORKERS BUT FIRE MORE EMPLOYEES OF COLOR !!!!!

I think this story is interesting in light of DCF / Connecticut Juvenile Training School  employees of color allegations of  bias ... racism and inequality within these agencies. Staffing levels are not the only things inadequate at DCF .... CJTS.

Federal monitor: DCF 'staffing levels are inadequate'

 

http://www.ctmirror.org/story/2013/10/08/federal-monitor-dcf-staffing-levels-are-inadequate

DCF DATA SHOWS BLACK MEN ARE TARGETED MORE

It is now clear that Department of Children and Families (DCF) has a problem-black men as employees. This information came from DCF Freedom of Information data; between years 2000-2013 black men comprised 8.8 % of employee base, yet 23% of disciplinary actions are against black men. Also 27% of all employee terminations are black men, this shows clearly black men are three times more likely receive terminations / disciplinary measures. DCF data bases shows that when white employees commit similar or worse offenses their discipline is not as harsh, or nothing happens at all to them. DCF would like to dispute these remarks of mine but their data convicts them.

DCF plantation's insistence on this data bore results; however, in the past DCF often give our plantation website their best two of FOI data years and omit negative data.

America has a historical  problem with black men and DCF is reflective ( through its disciplinary actions) of what America gleefully did to black men in the past. In spite of DCF's vociferous protestations to the contrary, black men are still targets within the state plantation's walls.

I am confused about certain things; DCF targets black male employees but has no problem with black families or youth being part of a client base. After all, it is profitable to collect state and federal dollars for blacks as clients.
In the near future charts / graphs will visually prove the point.

CJTS EMPLOYEES SINGING ELIVS SONG " I'M ALL SHOOK UP"

The DCFplantation e-mail box received comments about what is going on in light of the incident that happened on Unit 6C recently. Sources report two residents were in a backroom and fought, one supposedly was choked to the point of unconsciousness. Soon after the incident ( perhaps two days) three Youth Services Officers were walked off Connecticut Juvenile Training Schhol property ( while the incident is investigated). Now, what has YSOs saying they are " all shook up" is the swiftness the YSOs got the bum rush off CJTS property. In the not to distant past policies were enforced at CJTS according to whom management liked or disliked. A standard rule of thumb went like this at CJTS: management, lower level administrators, friends, and good employees got a pass when it came to disciplinary actions. Hell, a favorite YSO-of management- even slapped a resident and only received 10 days off. Several administrators got a verbal warning recently for using state computers for unauthorized business ( while YSOs & line staff get sent to the unemployment line) and this was standard procedure at the CJTS plantation for years. Suddenly things changed.
 It must be reported that this sudden shift in CJTS management desire "to appear doing that which is right" comes not from any inner moral compass from CJTS plantation administrators; constant pressure from activists, protests outside CJTS, a class action lawsuit against CJTS, and articles posted on DCFplantation blog caused a pseudo change of heart within CJTS. This is why YSOs are "all shook up" about three YSOs being being walked off the property. There exists now a helter skelter policy enacted at CJTS: all administrators running around like chickens without heads, seeking to appear in charge of a facility adrift. Human beings need structure to feel secure in a social setting, however at CJTS there seems to be a Key Stone Cops atmosphere where now after a incident-employees are escorted quickly off property. A far cry from the days when management picked when to enforce policies, based on whom was involved, and if that person was liked or part of the old boy network.
 In closing, if YSOs are "all shook up" about policies on the fly, they need to say or do something. For years YSOs allowed this type of  unfair climate to exist, now you want to complain. Well. If you want change then fight for it; do not slink back in a corner and bemoan what is going on.

INCIDENT AT CJTS PLANTATION AND A PREDICTABLE ENDING?

It has been reported to the DCFplantation blog by sources that three male Youth Services Officers were walked off Connecticut Juvenile Training School property Friday October 4, 2013. It is rumored that CJTS residents were in a back room on Unit 6 C ( not supervised? ) and a fracas started. During this time it is reported one of the residents was choked close to being unconscious. The composition of the YSOs is described as black, white, and Puerto Rican. There are no further details as to what transpired with youths or staff as it relates to this situation.
  We do know that the supposedly ethnic make up of the YSOs involved in the Unit 6C incident is the same as those involved in a incident on Unit 4D in 2012. In that particular -4D- situation a different black, white, and Puerto Rican employee were walked off the property; eight months later only the white employee got his job back. Well maybe the saying at CJTS among employees is true " when incidents occur management comes around. Then black and brown get knocked to the ground ( job loss)..while white is always found to be right (keep their job)."