Living conditions are so poor at a youth detention center in Northeast D.C. that some of the young people living there have broken sprinklers and flooded toilets to bring attention to the issue, Council member Trayon White said Monday.
White, Council member Anita Bonds and members of Council member Brooke Pinto’s staff spent time at the facility Monday morning. White said the visit, which he described as an “emergency pop-up walk-through,” came after several violent incidents and some people there not following staff directives and displaying “combative behaviors.”
In response to conditions he described as inhumane, White said addressing staffing issues and listening to young people about their concerns are steps that can be taken to address those challenges.
Inconsistent leadership has also resulted in some of the issues, White said, explaining that the agency has had three directors in the last six years.
“The primary focus of DYRS is to offer the finest continuum of care for court-involved youth and their families,” said Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services Acting Director Sam Abed. “We are dedicated to empowering our youth, families and community and are taking every provision to expand our residential placement options for youth under our care. We are fully committed to ensuring the long-term safety and security of our staff members and residents.”
White, though, said there’s a lot of frustration among those in the detention center.
“It’s a lot of frustrated youth in here,” White said. “And as a result of being frustrated, they’ve been acting out in various ways. This facility is very short-staffed. And as a result of the short staffing, it’s compromised the integrity of the institution and the services for young people.”
In a news release, White said Abed confirmed that there was an incident of assault that occurred at the facility, flooding that resulted from a popped sprinkler and one incident during which staff directives weren’t followed.
White said he spoke to some of the people involved in the flooding incident, and they said they did it “because they’re telling the staff what they need, what’s going on and they’re not being heard,” according to White.
White sounded the alarm about living conditions, too, explaining that some people he spoke to mentioned they didn’t have soap and had to use hand sanitizer instead. The center does have soap and hygiene products, but there was a request for a specific brand of soap the agency is working to get.
All youth received their meals, but some did get breakfast late over the weekend.
In some of the rooms, there aren’t TVs, White said, and the basketball court doesn’t have a rim and is instead an area with cement.
He also expressed frustration at how young people are getting educated, noting that he was told they were only offered 15 minutes of math and 15 minutes of English lessons.
“There is no way our children can reintegrate back into society without having a foundation of education,” White said.
Meanwhile, the intake process is supposed to take no more than 10 days, White said, but he heard in some cases, it had been taking weeks or months at a time.
Some staff members don’t come to work on weekends, something White said has dire consequences, because it means the young people have to stay in their rooms all weekend since there isn’t anybody to watch them.
White showed reporters a long list of issues he heard about during his three hours on site, including delays in medical treatment for one person who had a swollen nose.
“There are a lot of security and safety concerns here, and I’ve only been here three hours,” White said. “So I can imagine what’s going on at nighttime.”
