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 agency’s 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 Council’s 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 city’s 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.