![]() He said the county has contracted with a company to address the staffing shortages at the facility and that the county’s “highest priority is the safety of the residents and staff of the Juvenile Detention Facility.” "The increase in our census is a result of various factors, including changes in legislation, COVID backlogs in courts, shortages of statewide long-term placement facilities, etc.,” Turfe said. Officials have previously said the facility could comfortably operate with 80 juveniles. The are 152 youths at the facility, according to the county's statement on Saturday. The county relocated juveniles to a former adult jail in the city of Hamtramck, the William Dickerson Detention Facility, in late October to improve safety conditions after youths were able to break out of their rooms at the old facility in Greektown. More: Wayne County empties troubled juvenile jail, sends 120 youths to former adult lockup More: Overcrowded, understaffed juvenile jail forces Wayne County officials to act "The state basically needs to take action," Fresard said. Wayne County officials have repeatedly said the problems at the juvenile jail stem from that shortage. There is a statewide shortage of beds at secure residential facilities where youths can be placed from the jail once they have been ordered by the court into treatment. She also said the state needs to take action soon to relieve the overcrowding. "We've been working on it over the weekend. "The court is on it, very concerned about the situation," Fresard said. Wayne County Circuit Chief Judge Patricia Perez Fresard said Saturday that she received the employee's letter late this week and has been in touch with county officials. "There is no where for staff or detainees (juveniles to go)." "When the juveniles destroy their cells, which causes sewage and water to leak into other areas of the holding facility, which then in turn began to smell and become putrid and toxic," the employee wrote. Some juveniles have destroyed their cells and escaped the rooms, the employee wrote in the email sent to Wayne County Circuit Court officials. "At this point, we have found no evidence that substantiates the allegation of inappropriate sexual behavior occurring in holding cells of our intake unit.” "Upon completion of the review, we will take appropriate action, as necessary," he said. In a statement provided by the county on Saturday, Deputy County Executive Assad Turfe said that after being made aware of the complaint on Wednesday, “our administration immediately initiated an internal review which is ongoing." More: Juvenile jail in 'disaster' mode: Complaints of youths locked in rooms for days More: Youths at Wayne County juvenile jail left mostly to educate themselves without teachers It's really sad."Ī majority of the youths have been held alone in their cells, the employees said. "These kids haven't been classified according to, you know, what they are in there for. "This is so dangerous," the employee said. They had to give them mattresses and there are three kids in that section." There is a section that isn't even set up to have anyone sleep in. "They tore up the segregation pod so they have nowhere to put them so they had to put them in the holding cell admitting area. "There are three kids who have been there for months," the employee said. One employee said that two cells held two juvenile boys each and three other boys were housed in an intake area because other areas in the jail were full. Two other employees, who spoke with the Free Press on Saturday but did not want to be named because they fear reprisals, also confirmed that a few youths were housed together in cells this week. The state has permitted the facility to bend lockdown and staffing rules since last spring. County officials have said they've struggled with hiring. An ongoing Free Press investigation previously found complaints that youths were denied basic care, including daily showers, recreation, medication and education. Overcrowding and understaffing at the facility has been a problem for months.
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