05/26/03 "...this state does not care about these kids or the staff..."

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Jan-Mar 2003

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12/30/03 Orlando JDC: Administration get pat on the back D.W.I driving intoxicated

J.D.C. Orlando 1) There are supervisors who refuse to work the floor and assist with staffing; 2) Administration get a pat on the back D.W.I. driving intoxicated when other officers are fired; 3) Holidays are not shared fair to officers; 4) A secretary, Ingrid, controlling and making decisions with officers work duties. "Who is Ingrid at O.R.J.D.C that makes some officers afraid to open their mmmmmmmmmmmmm? All officers would like to know, would you help. Explain her duties in writing to all officers here at the center; 5) Excessive Tardiness of officer Horne, Administration cover up and supervisor do not comply with policy; 6) Excessive on-duty officers bringing their children to work. Violation? Help O.R.J.D.C; 7) Uniform officers do not get change in uniform, John. Why?; 8) This is why I am glad that I no longer work in the system, there are more issues at O.R.J.C. All officers need to be reassured of speaking out. These are serious issues. Help Help Help the officers please................................................. Speak out.

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12/25/03 ...scum rises to the top.

If Bankhead thinks the problem BOILS down to just a few, remember that when you boil anything the scum rises to the top.

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12/25/03 JDC: How are kids suppose to be safe...

JDC: How are kids suppose to be safe in the environment when staff at ORJDC [Orange Regional Juvenile Detention Center?] don't even have working radios, after management has been told time after time again that we don't have working radios... The state also chose to cut back on overtime to save money and dump it in their pockets and often times there is not enough staff to work the mods I have worked on a mod where I was alone with about 20 detainees... Management refuses to see these problems. DCF got a raise not to long ago because they have a stressful job I think that they need to be in Detention its just as tough as a case load of children, at least we don't lose the children.

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12/19/03 JDC: Officer Guerra allowed a detainee...to commit an assault

I am ashamed to say that I work at [Osceola Regional Juvenile Detention Center] where Mr. Hoffman is the superintendent. There is discrimination at this facility bad. Officer Fernandez was a good employee at this facility. Officer Fernandez is a black officer who was wrongfully terminated and fighting to get his job back. Officer Fernandez was late or called in and had documentation for his action. This officer was given a notice of investigation and was never given a chance to prove his case. Officer Fernandez was terminated for excessive tardiness.

The problem with this is there are other officers who got excessive tardiness at this facility and nothing is being done about it. The first officer who I'm talking about is Nennette Roman. This officer is late everyday. This officer was put under a notice of investigation several times.

Mr. Hoffman approached Supervisor Taylor about the investigation and asked what should be done about this situation. Supervisor Taylor responded by saying, "What about Officer Lopez who's been late for the past two years?" Mr. Hoffman’s response was "I don't have any paper work that's because this officer refused to sign the paperwork". Supervisor Taylor stated, "That if you’re not going to write up Officer Lopez then you should cancel Officer Roman". He had no problem doing that because Officer Lopez is his favorite staff and Officer Lopez and Officer Roman are lovers. Notice that these two officers are not black.

Officer Roman was then called to Mr. Hoffman's office to be informed that her notice of investigation was cancelled. She then made comments that "she knew she was not going to get reprimanded because Mr. Hoffman knows better". This type of favoritism that is and has been displayed through out the years at this facility has driven the majority of the staff to a low level of morale and productivity. This appears to be another example of the institutionalized racism that has been created at this facility and it's referred to as "Club Med".

We have present situations such as when Officer Guerra allowed a detainee to go into another detainee’s room to commit an assault. Superintendent Hoffman is aware of this, also, but the perception is [that] these matters are handled very slowly or not at all unless they are committed or alleged to be committed by a black officer. The recommendation at this time by Superintendent Hoffman is for this officer to be suspended for two days. We can almost guarantee that if Officer Guerra was black he would have been terminated by now.

The list goes on and on from promotions to training, our black officers often times get overlooked or not even informed about the open positions or training opportunities. As another example, recently a training position was created at this facility, and filled in-house with out any type of posting or interviews. ~Anonymous

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12/04/03 DJJ ...for the system to work we must start at the top...

In order for the system to work we must start at the top: The SECRETARY. It is an appointed position. This individual and selected staff does not have a clue of [what] dealing with these kids is all about.

These are not career criminals [but] this is the attitude that most officials have towards these kids. Yes, we need to be stern, but fair. POW'S are treated better than the system treats our kids. I successfully reared my son who is now working with one of the programs in central Florida. The same approach that I used with my son in my 18 years of military service would be great for all of the kids regardless of his/her race or gender. We need people with compassion; understanding; commitment; and, most importantly, love in their hearts when it comes to a kid. Each child is deserving of the best care we can provide to them in their own unique way.

I no longer work for DJJ, but one of the better detention centers was Brevard and one of the worst was Osceola. Most of the chain of command at the centers and programs are mostly there for a paycheck and not for the child. Ex-cops think, like ex-cops, they can care less about how these kids are treated. I am a former U.S. Army drill instructor and I was effective at Space Coast Marine Inst., Brevard Detention, and Osceola Detention Center. ~ Name withheld

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11/23/03 JDC: Administration lie and get away with it.

I don't agree with the you putting people names in the newspaper because they were arrested before.  This is wrong, because some staff have been falsely arrested for mistaken identity, then we have some staff that was never convicted.  This is not fair to the innocent, unless your were found guilty.  I used to be a staff at Osceola Detention, and I saw many things that was not right.  In fact Ms. Honan was one of the staffs that treated people wrong, and lied to get ahead.  One staff told me she saw a supervisor who was on the floor, but was under investigation, chocked someone, and the person reported it, and that person was punish. At Osceola Detention you experience a lot of discrimination between black and whites.  If you let a kid call abuse, when you know that kid is telling the truth, Administration punish that staff.  Administration lie and get away with it.  Osceola made deem status, and know one got a bonus, but the Capt. of the center.  We have white people do no call no shows, like Stokes, and Davis, and nothing happen.  I got fired for calling in, and being late sometimes, but then you have you have your Guerra and Roman's that call in or be late, and nothing happens.  You have supervisors cursing you out, and the detainees, and also you have Supt. doing the same.  If you fight back then you have to deal with Chinault, and that is a suspension or a written up, or fired.  Staff get moved around without notice, or because an administrator or staff, or supervisor is mad with them. We tell the kids that they have rights, but when you give them a chance to do their rights, then you are called in the office.  I am not there anymore, but to see the things that I know for a fact that they do to people are very wrong.  I used to have a co-worker John Fernandez name fighting to get his job back.  Discrimination is bad at Osceola Detention.  We do not have enough workers, so we have to get comp out, and still leave the center short.  This is a very bad situation. ~Anonymous

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11/08/03 JDC: Amount of staff is not sufficient

Kids complain they are not given enough blankets, socks; Staff working over every week and only being flexed instead of pay, amount of staff is not sufficient on all shifts. The dept is changing the stripes on their shirts and making staff go to Tampa to have them sewed or do it at their own expense. ~Anonymous

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11/03/03 Supervisors just close their eyes to the many injustices...

Hello,

I'm so pleased to know there are concerned individuals out there motivated in making a positive difference in the lives of children at risk. I resigned in 1996 from the dept. of juvenile justice, I was a counselor at the detention center in Daytona. I was appalled!! Being a child advocate for more than thirty years and witnessing the internal inappropriate behavior of staff was more than I could stand. Supervisors just close their eyes to the many injustices that go on especially on the weekends. Our children are at the mercy of many uncaring, uneducated, in some cases racist employees. Allow me to stop here, And suggest one of the ways to make a difference is to stop with all the unnecessary paper work and degreed requirements to work within the system. This is not rocket science, this job requires dedication, commitment, empathy, and a genuine compassion of truly wanting to make a difference. When targeting this group of people turn over will decline, moral will increase, and those that are there will eventually either re-direct there own behavior or move on. Once again I commend all of you who are assisting our youth at risk. Sincerely, ~Marie

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10/26/03 They might as well blindfold the kids, line them up against a brick wall...

What does it take to make the Dept of Juvenile Justice wake up and assume the responsibility for what they have done and what they have not done? They say they are fixing things but they are not.  We thought the first death would do it!  No.  Maybe a second death!  But, no.  Maybe a third death!  They might as well blindfold the kids, line them up against a brick wall and machine gun them.  That's how much the DJJ cares about these kids. ~"Frankie"

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10/21/03 At Cypress Creek, horrific abuse covered up

While I was employed at Cypress Creek Correctional Facility, one of the three level 10 juvenile max facilities, I witnessed horrific abuse and neglect of the youth. When I would call the incidents in to the hotline, no one ever responded. Now I know why. The program monitors, Carolyn Floyd and Billy Starke, would call the facility and warn the administrators of incidents being called in so they could be covered up. They personally targeted staff who complained about the treatment of the youth and helped get rid of them. The administrator would tell staff that they are being told of [Inspector General] reports which are supposed to be confidential. Bill Bankhead knew of this and never did anything until the media started targeting him. He pulled the contract from CSC, but promoted Carolyn Floyd. [The Department of Juvenile Justice] is just as dirty as these private contractors. These kids are dollars to them and Bill Bankhead does not care unless he is the one being held responsible. That's the only way to hurt them is through the media! ~Anonymous

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10/14/03 Five day suspension is a cover up

I was sickened by the punishment handed down by DJJ Administration for the negligent death of a youth: a five day suspension!

[In contrast,] A supervisor who was on duty and had no direct contact with an escape that happen, was given a reduction in rank and pay, and also suspended for 30 days without pay. The youth who escaped was captured within 4 hours and was unharmed. The reason the escape happened in the first place, was due [to] shortage of staff created by the new administration, who threw out the staff-to-inmate ratio so they could save money. We use to have a ratio 1 of staff per 6-8 youths as a written rule, but it was abolished to save money on overtime and to have fewer staff to pay, well it paid off, but for who? It seems like when it comes to punishing administrations' errors, they look the other way and take care of themselves.

A five day suspension for a youth's death, this is a cover-up that they hope we will ignore and it will go away. Somebody, call the labor board or get some lawyers involved let's try this in a court of law; let the public be heard.

If you saw Sunday's St. Petersburg Times Floridian section, you saw Charles Phillip Cunningham, another one of the administrations victims, it was told he was retiring, the article states he was forced out. ~Anonymous

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10/11/03 "...A 5 day suspension for a youth's life..."

I can't believe the gall of the DJJ administration, a 5 day suspension for a youth's life, for a decision she made that could have been avoidable. Officer Elswick failed the State certification exam 3 times; he never should have been on the floor. He was on the floor because of the shortage of staff she has caused from her firing and running off staff due to her egotistical and dictatorship fantasy world. Officer Hull was fired for not properly supervising Officer Elswick, Officer Elswick never should have been on the floor in the first place. They are looking for scapegoats; it was her fault "period". Other staff receives longer suspensions and firings for attendance issues, and no one died in those cases. This is a big cover-up; if I were Officer Hull and the Matthews family I would sue Asst. Supt. Maureen Honan for her liabilities in this fiasco. DJJ administration didn't announce the suspensions until the day of the forum, so they would look good for the public. DJJ administration is a bunch of heartless "good ole boy" Klan. I know a supervisor who got a longer suspension for an escape at Pinellas JDC, and nobody died, another event caused by the shortage of staff created by Maureen Honan. Please forward this to the State panel, and have them look at the turn over ratio, the escapes, and the death since Maureen Honan started at Pinellas JDC. Pray for us. ~Anonymous

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10/11/03 Honan knew officer failed certification exam 3 times
 

Maureen Honan had direct knowledge that Officer Elswick had failed the State certification exam 3 times and chose to ignore this information and place Elswick on the floor in contact with youths , making her liable for the unfortunate death. If someone failed the school bus driving license exam 3 times, would you let them drive your child's school bus? This lady is a cancer at Pinellas JDC please help get rid of her. The Mathews family should sue her and the Regional directors for wrongful death. ~Anonymous

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10/10/03 Open letter to Rep. Gus Bilirakis

First let me state I am instituting my constitutional right to free speech, First amendment to the bill of rights. I was an employee of DJJ for nine years and four months at PRJDC. I was injured preventing what could have had an outcome as in the death of Daniel Matthews, fortunately it did not as I separated the two youths far before they had a chance to even become verbally combative. The instigator of the incident, Whom which I dealt with reasonable and necessary force in accordance with DJJ policy and procedure was placed in his cell (details forthcoming) after I had to wait for assistance while restraining him in accordance to DJJ policy in the hall of the mod outside of his cell, The end result was that after more than a year after this I was told that because I had reached Maximum Medical Improvement with a Partial permanent disability that I could no longer work for DJJ.

Honorable G. Bilirakis what is your take on this?

I was unable to attend the hearing. ~Walter Grau, Former Senior Juvenile Detention Officer at Pinellas JDC, October 10, 2003

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08/24/03 "...veteran staff that is looking for other employment because of the way Pinellas Detention is run."

I would like to let everyone know my history for the last year and the reason that I was fired from my place of employment for the last 14 1/2 years.  In May 2002, I lost my mother.  She was ill in a hospital in Georgia when I first took time off to see her.  The day after arriving back in Florida, she passed away.  I then had to go back to Georgia to be with my family until the funeral could be held.  It took a week and a half to schedule the funeral.  On November 5, 2002, my son was born.  My wife had a difficult labor that resulted in an emergency Cesarean Section.  It took her six weeks to recover.  I stayed home for four weeks to help with laundry, meals, cleaning, and child care.  On July 25, 2003, my daughter, whom lives at home, went into premature labor (over 3 months early)!  I left work immediately to be with her.  That morning, my Granddaughter was born at 1lb 8oz.  She lived for 9 days, although very ill.  When she passed away, I took time off work to be with my family.  I thought I deserved all the time off that I took in the last 14 months, but apparently, no one else thought so.  I have had several tragic events in my life recently.  I never thought my employer would decide to make my life more difficult.  One of the Superintendents always preaches "family first."  I never got a phone call to see how we were doing, just a call to see when I was coming back to work.

I was an employee with the Department of Juvenile Justice for 14 years and 5 months. Today [August 20, 2003] I was dismissed because they said I abused my sick leave.  I was never written up for anything until about a year ago when a certain Officer got promoted to Supervisor.  Since this Officer became a Supervisor, I was harassed on a continuous basis.  I was singled out for things that I think some or all Officers have done in the past.  Such as, call in sick before or after your days off or call in sick after you have gone through the proper channels to get approved leave and your Supervisor or your Administrator doesn't get back in touch with you in a timely manner.  You have veteran staff that is looking for other employment because of the way Pinellas Detention is run.  We have an asst. administrator who only cares about her personal gain, as far as her moving up the ladder.  They have a Superintendent that I think can be a fair guy, but he has no idea sometimes what goes on out there because he is never told.  And you have one more asst. Superintendent who is just there; he has no idea what he is doing over half of the time.  There [are] a couple of good, dedicated Supervisors there that can deal with any situation, if given a chance.  However, they are not allowed to make any decisions.  Then you have Supervisors that will sit down with you and tell you "I don't know why they (meaning administration) are doing the things that they are doing."  They wait for your response and stab you in the back by running in and reporting what you said and not reporting what they said.  Now, you are on their "list" and once you are on their "list," you are pretty much out of the door.

Officers are being investigated by the Sheriff's Department, as well as Abuse registry and cleared of all wrong doing, and they are still moved off the floor put in another position because administration thinks that something wasn't handled correctly.  The Officers get good training by excellent trainers.  However, there are some detainees that Officers work with that are as big and physically fit as the Officers.  Some of the techniques that are taught just don't work.  Please don't get me wrong, if a detainee is intentionally abused, the Officer should be disciplined.  But I'm here to tell you there are a lot of good Officers in Pinellas Detention Center and I'm sure all over the state of Florida.

Instead of giving officers a lesser punishment such as oral or written reprimand they go straight for dismissal.  What ever happen to suspension?  There is a serious problem out there and someone should take a look at some of the things that go on there.  There are more serious things that happen at JDC than some of the petty things that they try to get Officers fired for and nothing has happened.  I think we all know what I am speaking about.  In other places, Administrative positions are a thing of the past but not there.

Officers are not treated fairly.  Officers are made to hold over to cover the next shift after working their shift and officers from that shift are made to hold over to cover the next shift.  It never stops.  In addition to working the extra hours, Officers are not given a choice of getting overtime or if they want to flex hours.  There are new Officers that come in, start working, then figure out how the place is run, and quit.  You have some Officers that get hired and don't even show up for their first day.  I no longer work there so I have nothing to gain from any of this.  I just hope someone will look into this before any other good Officers lose their jobs. ~Nathaniel Higgins Jr.

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08/08/03 Questions about Daniel's death

Questions:

1. Why was the trainee (Elswick), who open the doors of the youths involved in the fight, allowed to work the floor that night. He had failed the State Officers Certification exam twice. He was uncertified. The facility Trainer, not the FTO, was aware of this, but allowed him to work the floor, leading to the incident. He was soon dismissed after the incident to cover up the facts. All of administration was aware of this, yet he was allowed to continue to work the floor uncertified. Why? Wouldn't that make the facility Trainer liable?

2. What took so long for the initial 911 call to be made?

3. Why didn't more staff respond?

4. Why were all the youth still up past the scheduled bedtime?

5. Why was an Intake staff on the floor, that's not their unit?

6. Why did the paramedics stroll in as if there was no emergency?

7. Why, if it was common knowledge that the 2 youths were having problems for 2 days, wasn't one youth moved to another Mod, hence preventing the fight?

The only reason I can think of why staff Elswick was on the floor was the lack of staff we already have. The high turnover rate and the lack of staff support, the "take everything personal" attitude of management, the "clicks", the "out to get you" attitude of administration, leads to a 60-40 ratio among veterans and rookies, in favor of the rookies. Well, an uncertified rookie made a big mistake, the results are obvious.

When a code blue was called why didn't all staff hear it? Why was the radio signal not heard, why wasn't an "all call" sounded over the PA by master control?

First, the radios were old and out dated. We had been complaining for months — funny thing, we got new ones the following week.

Next, no staff heard an "all call" from master control because another rookie was in that unit that night and didn't know how to respond; this was due to lack of training.

All these blunders are due to the management, not the floor staff. Staff are thrown into forest fires with squirt guns for tools and not even shown how to use the squirt gun. Staff are thrown into positions and units with no knowledge of what to do, but don't make a mistake because it's your ass.

Administration management is well aware of this and chose to ignore staffs complaints, this is vicarious liability. They say s_ _t rolls down hill; well, for once, let's push it up hill. ~Anonymous

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06/26/03 "DJJ...does not care in the least for these kids..."

Cathy, as a juvenile detention officer here in the state of Florida, I want to personally thank you.  Don’t listen to the critics. Yes these kids did break the law, but abusing them in the system is not the answer. If anything, it will only cause more problems for society in the future.  DJJ, especially here in the Pasco-Pinellas district, does not care in the least for these kids and I’m telling you this with first hand knowledge.  Someday, the system will be forced to change due to the numerous incidents with deaths, etc. but ‘til then all we can due is pray that we don’t see more of the same.

Sincerely,

An anonymous senior juvenile detention officer

(P.S. if I gave my name the Dept. would hunt me down and crucify me for my opinion.)

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06/06/03 Brevard JDC: Over-crowding puts kids; staff in danger

I write this email in the hopes that someone will listen. I am writing in reference to the Brevard Regional Juvenile Detention Center. It is truly a pitiful site. For lack of better words, working there is deplorable. There is a constant shortage of staff and administration ALWAYS turns a blind eye to the situation. Not only are detainees' safety in jeopardy, but officer safety is non existent. Administration does not care if there is enough officers to handle the population.  Not to mention the facility is OVER populated and very understaffed!!

Yet, still they do not offer overtime coverage for these situations, they demand that the program continue and administration provides no answers, just questions!! It is truly a sad state of affairs. From what I have researched the acceptable ratio in this facility is 8:1..this is WRITTEN POLICY ACCORDING TO DJJ!! But our current ratio is no where near that. It's more like 21:1 at times. Or on a better day..15:1 depending if more than one officer is in the mod!! But yet, no one seems to see a problem with that. I am by no means trying to slander anyone or anything.

Everything I am writing can be verified at anytime.  I don't know what good can come out of this, but I hope this reaches the right person to rectify this terrible situation. ~Anonymous

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05/26/03 "...this state does not care about these kids or the staff..."

I was surfing through various web sites with DJJ when I came across your site. I was very much interested in the Pinellas JDC area I am also employed in a JDC here in Florida and we are having the same problems and my conclusion is that this state does not care about these kids or the staff and their attitude is if you don't like it too bad. ~Anonymous

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03/09/03 Riverside Academy: "We r a pot waiting to over-boil"
 

Lack of man-power, recent suicide attempts, poor service, resident injuries, poor supervision of residents.  Your Mike can't see due to his Zone out of population.  There's a reason why he was located there. Can't see, can't tell.  All is not sunshine at Riverside.  We r a pot waiting to over boil.  ~Anonymous