Michigan takes action against Wayne County juvenile jail after violations
State officials took corrective action this week against Wayne County's juvenile jail based on their investigation this spring that found a slew of violations, including feces-covered walls, a lack of clean clothes and basic hygiene products, like toothpaste, and problems distributing medication to youths.
The move to place the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Center on a first provisional license is the latest challenge for the troubled facility, which has struggled to improve conditions that critics have called inhumane and dangerous. The Detroit Free Press has reported on the problems at the jail since summer 2022.
Two youths said they were sexually assaulted by other residents in separate incidents this year. And this May one youth was beaten so badly that he was hospitalized after he blacked out.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services can put facilities on a provisional license when it "is temporarily unable to conform to the rules," according to state law. As a part of the process, the county submitted a corrective action plan to the state to fix the problems.
The provisional license, issued Wednesday, expires in six months.
The spring licensing investigation by MDHHS that prompted the provisional license found youths without bed sheets or clean clothes, and a lack of regular showers, recreation time and schooling. There was no record that a youth received his mental health medication for seven days in February; he alleged he hadn't received it in three weeks.
"Since the special investigation that began seven months ago, Wayne County Juvenile Detention Center has made progress, including offering expanded services to youth and additional training of staff," said MDHHS spokesman Bob Wheaton in an email to the Free Press on Thursday confirming the provisional license. "However, this special investigation demonstrated Wayne County must continue its improvements to meet licensing requirements."
The juvenile jail could lose its state license after a third provisional license. A state official said it couldn't operate without one. But the facility operated in the 1990s without a state license, according to newspaper coverage at the time.
The spring investigation also found that the facility was in violation because the county's director of Juvenile and Youth Services had not performed her responsibilities as the chief administrator in day-to-day operations and "ensuring compliance" with licensing rules.
The county fired its medical director "for cause based on repeated violations regarding medical care and oversight," according to the corrective action plan it submitted to the state. Neither official has commented to the Free Press.
A county spokesperson said the facility's staff will work with the state to "restore our licensing to regular status."
"We are committed to improving the services we provide to ensure our incarcerated population is treated respectfully in a safe and healthy environment," Megan Kirk, a county spokesperson wrote in an email Thursday.
The investigation confirms much of what the Free Press has been reporting about conditions in the facility for more than a year.
A state monitor is at the facility around-the-clock. The state monitoring started after the alleged sex assault of a 12-year-old boy in March.
The state removed its staff for about two weeks in early June because it said conditions had improved. But it sent them back June 20 after another incident, which officials would not disclose. Another youth alleged he was sexually assaulted by a resident June 12.
Contact Christine MacDonald: cmacdonald@freepress.com or 313-418-2149. Follow her on X: @cmacfreep.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan takes action against Wayne County juvenile jail
