The transition to new rules
and policies within West Virginia
“They just want to be able to do
their jobs and be able to carry through the mission of the division,” said
Elaine Harris with the Communications Workers of America who speaks for those
officers.
Two years ago, Mercer County
Circuit Judge Omar Aboulhosn ordered changes within West
Virginia ’s Division of Juvenile Services after Mountain State
Justice, a public interest law firm, filed a lawsuit focused on conditions at
both the Salem Industrial Home for Youth and the Harriet
B. Jones
Treatment Center
in Harrison County
Since then, the facilities have
been closed, the residents at those sites have been transferred to
other locations across West
Virginia
Uncertainty surrounding those
policy changes came to a head on Feb. 18 when six of the 20 residents at the
Lorrie Yeager Jr. Juvenile Center in Parkersburg took control of the commons
area at the site in a riot that forced the juvenile correctional officers to
retreat.
Reports indicated extensive damage
was done and it took several hours for the officers to regain control, even
with the assistance of Parkersburg Police.
“They were trying to maintain order
and trying to do the things that they felt they were allowed to do, but that
situation just got totally out of control,” said Harris.
She said, when it comes to the jobs
of juvenile correctional officers, adequate staffing is always an issue,
training needs to be updated to reflect the policy changes and officers should
be provided the tools they need to maintain order. With a starting salary
of $22,500, she said the correctional officers do the best they can in tough
jobs.
A day earlier, Stephanie Bond,
acting director of the West Virginia Division of Juvenile Services, confirmed a
leadership change had been made at the Lorrie Yeager Jr.
Juvenile Center
