Officials: Numbers down at overcrowded Wayne County juvenile jail

After months of struggling with staffing problems, overcrowding and dangerous conditions at Wayne County's juvenile jail, officials say recent efforts to reduce the population have worked.

As of early last week, there were 117 youths housed in the facility — down from about 142 in late March, said Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, director of the county's Department of Health, Human and Veteran Services. He said the county has also started adding more staff.

“The increased staffing and the decrease in population has reduced any of the potentially dangerous incidents," El-Sayed said early last week. "We’re not all the way there and we’re still in a state of emergency for a reason, but we're making a lot of progress and I'm really proud of the progress we're making. We recognize that we have to go a lot further and we are.”

The crisis at the juvenile jail prompted a state Senate subcommittee to hold a special hearing last month on the problems and Wayne County Executive Warren Evans to declare a public health state of emergency. These moves came amid an ongoing Detroit Free Press investigation that has exposed the poor conditions, including lengthy room confinements, lack of schooling and, last month, the alleged sexual assault of a 12-year-old by other youths.

The Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility has operated since last spring under relaxed staffing and lockdown rules with the state's approval because of the shortage of employees.

El-Sayed said the county plans to bring in 72 new employees, including both county and contracted workers, and some new staffers had already started orientation. He also said the county gave a 35% pay increase to county staffers at the facility, not including appointees, putting the pay for entry-level juvenile detention specialists at about $27 an hour. Contract employees working in the facility, he said, also received a smaller pay bump.

The county is also considering getting tablets for youths at the facility and plans to create the position of deputy juvenile detention facility director for youth life, El-Sayed said.

"This is somebody who we sort of see as the person who's going to oversee building the most nurturing and empowering environment for youths in the facility," he said.

Officials have said the county, state and court are working together on placement options for Wayne County youths. Some were recently moved to another county's juvenile detention center and more beds have opened up in a private residential facility, officials said.

“It’s been a partnership and you know this is, at its best, how this is supposed to work," El-Sayed said. "We all work together to try and take on our piece of the problem and solve it.”

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The juvenile jail operations have been under scrutiny for months. Last month, the Free Press detailed heated letters Evans had sent to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, blaming her administration for the crisis. He wrote that the state's "failure" to solve the residential facility shortage had caused an emergency at the county's facility.

Despite the population decline — and daily presence of state health department employees to monitor the conditions — problems have persisted at the William Dickerson Detention Facility in Hamtramck, where the county moved its juvenile jail operations in October. As of late last month, the facility was still under 12 active licensing investigations and, last week, the county confirmed there was a fight between residents during the nightly lockdown Tuesday.

"The incident was quickly contained, and any necessary medical treatment was provided," Kimberly Harry, a spokesperson for the county, said in an emailed statement. "Additional deadbolts were installed this morning."

The number of youths currently in the juvenile jail is still higher than in the past. In a news release last month, the county said that in 2021, when the juvenile jail operations were still downtown, the average number of youths in the detention facility was 68. County officials previously said they can comfortably handle 80 youths.

Of the 117 juveniles being held at the facility as of Tuesday, El-Sayed said 69 were awaiting placements. Many youths have languished at the juvenile jail for months, long after being ordered into residential treatment by the court.

“Every day that they spend in our facility is a day that they're not spending in their court-mandated treatment," El-Sayed told the Free Press last month. "And that's a day of their childhood that they're losing.”

Wayne County Circuit Chief Judge Patricia Perez Fresard said a task force, which includes the county, state and court, is working to ensure there is a reassessment of youths impacted to determine whether there could be other placement options.

"We're reassessing children who have been adjudicated, and those who are awaiting hearings or trials or sentencings, we are bringing them up as quickly as possible, bringing them up quicker, the judges are ready to take them, as soon as they can come in," Fresard said. "We are definitely ... looking at every case where they're in the juvenile detention facility and looking for every possible alternative."

El-Sayed said the county is working with a service provider to build an intensive day program. The court could order youths into the program and have them return home each evening on tether, officials said.

El-Sayed said the county hopes to have a program up and running "as soon as possible."

More: Michigan top health official: Reports from inside Wayne juvenile jail 'highly concerning'

State officials have said they are working to increase capacity at two state-operated residential facilities and the state is allocating $3 million to Spectrum Human Services to open up 40 more beds. According to Spectrum, which consolidated its two Highland Park residential facilities into one last year, as of last week, they had brought in 14 Wayne County youths since the allocation started and expect to house 11 more in the coming weeks. Stacie Bowens, an executive director at Spectrum Human Services, said they will continue to bring in Wayne County youths.

Last month, Suzanna Shkreli, who had served as Michigan's Children's Ombudsman, was named director of juvenile justice reform, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. She has helped assist Wayne County by requesting that the Michigan Sheriffs' Association send out a statewide email encouraging sheriffs in counties with available bed space to contact her, and by connecting with Genesee County, according to an email from Lynn Sutfin, a spokesperson for the state health department.

Officials have said Genesee County has agreed to house six Wayne County youths at its court-operated juvenile justice center.

Three youths from Wayne County were recently moved to Genesee County, Judge John Gadola, presiding judge of Genesee County Circuit Court's Family Division, said last week.

Shonita Carreker, of Detroit, said she has been worried about the safety of her 17-year-old son, who has been in the facility since June.

News of the alleged sexual assault of a youth at the facility last month was “very alarming” and Carreker said she hasn’t been able to visit her son in person for about a month. She was relieved to be able to see him last week.

“I am still concerned about the lack of supervision,” she said. “A change needs to happen in staffing. They need to hire more people to watch over the kids.”

Contact Gina Kaufman: gkaufman@freepress.com or 313-223-4526. Follow her on Twitter: @ReporterGina

Contact Christine MacDonald: cmacdonald@freepress.com or 313-418-2149. Follow her on Twitter: @cmacfreep

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Overcrowded Wayne County juvenile jail sees population decline