COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice is
seeking a court order to force Ohio juvenile prisons to stop what
federal officials describe as rampant use of solitary confinement to
discipline boys with mental health disorders, a practice the state says
is a last resort.
A motion filed Wednesday in federal court in
Ohio seeks a temporary restraining order to limit seclusion at four
juvenile facilities. The Justice Department alleges Ohio violates the
boys’ due process rights by depriving them of education, exercise and
mental health care, then doesn’t change their treatment when they return
to the general population to address the effects of solitary
confinement or the problems that led to seclusion.
"The state
secludes boys with mental health disorders at the facilities a
tremendous amount, the state knows it, and the state won’t address it,"
the Justice Department wrote. "If these boys are to be protected from
the irreparable harm of excessive and repeated seclusion, it is up to
this court to protect them."
The Ohio Department of Youth Services
said it secludes juveniles as a last resort and still offers treatment
and programming in those cases.
"Addressing youths’ mental health
needs is absolutely critical in our work of rehabilitating youth,"
spokeswoman Kim Parsell said in a statement, noting that youth are
provided "individualized, evidence-based behavioral health services" and
activities.
The federal government’s latest request adds to its
2008 lawsuit raising concerns about solitary confinement and inadequate
mental health services in Ohio’s youth system. The government says the
monitor in the case investigated the use of seclusion for part of last
year and expressed concerns but that the state has not made policy
changes or taken other remedial action on the issue.
Parsell said
she couldn’t respond in detail because of the pending case but noted
that the agency reviews seclusion to make sure it is used only as a last
option.
The Wednesday filing charged that seclusion has become the system’s typical method of dealing with
mentally ill boys.
It
said at least 10 boys at the Scioto Juvenile Correctional Facility in
central Ohio spent at least one-tenth of their time in seclusion between
April and September of last year. That facility is slated to close in
May.
One youth at the Circleville Juvenile Correctional Facility
south of Columbus spent about 45 percent of his time in seclusion over
six months, with the longest stretch lasting about 19 days, and he
showed "self-injurious behavior" and was on suicide watch, according to
the motion. Another spent about one-third of his time alone, including
three straight weeks, it said.
Federal authorities want the court
to limit solitary confinement for mentally ill boys to no more than 24
hours without exercise, education or other programming; no more than
three consecutive days; and no more than three days within a 30-day
period unless officials review a youth’s mental health treatment plan
and take other steps. They also say use of restraints shouldn’t be
substituted for seclusion.
Much has changed in Ohio’s juvenile
prisons in the decade since a different lawsuit alleged a culture of
violence in the system. It has closed several juvenile prisons in recent
years as more young offenders go to locally run facilities, meaning
those still in state facilities are often older and more violent.
The state now houses about 450 juveniles.
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