On December 24, 2004, private civil rights attorneys and attorneys for the Youth Law Center, Inc. the Children's Law Center, Inc, and the Ohio Justice & Policy Center filed a § 1983 class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, challenging the treatment of juveniles in the custody or under the supervision of the Ohio Department of Youth Services (ODYS). The ODYS operated juvenile correctional institutions in Ohio which included Circleville Youth Center, Cuyahoga Hills Boys School, Indian River School, Marion Juvenile Correctional Center, Mohican Youth Center, Ohio River Valley Youth Center, Scioto Juvenile Correctional Center, and the Freedom Center.

Plaintiffs' complaint alleged that the individually named plaintiffs and the plaintiff class members were subjected to abusive, inhumane, and illegal conditions, policies, and practices, which included: excessive force, physical abuse, unreasonable mechanical restraints, lockdown and isolation for arbitrary reasons, improper strip searches, inadequate mental health care and medical treatment, inadequate education services and programs, and ineffective disciplinary measures. Plaintiffs further alleged that the ODYS denied equal access and services for girls in its custody. Plaintiffs sought declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as class certification.

Plaintiffs amended the complaint on June 15, 2005. Defendants moved to dismiss.

On July 29, 2005, the District Court (Magistrate Judge Terence P Kemp) stayed the case at the request of the parties so that they could pursue settlement negotiations. The Court denied plaintiffs' request for class certification without prejudice to refilling and administratively closed the case.

On April 4, 2007, plaintiffs requested that the court ordered stay be lifted and that they be granted leave to file a second amended complaint.

On May 18, 2007, United States Magistrate Judge Kemp appointed Fred Cohen as Independent Fact Finder. Cohen assembled a team of 10 experts with whom he conducted intensive site visits of various Ohio Department of Youth Services (ODYS) facilities. The team interviewed staff, youth and ODYS officials and reviewed numerous records and reports. On December 13, 2007, Cohen issued a 214 page Fact-Finding Final Report, which addressed his team's findings and its recommendations for an overhaul of the ODYS system and facilities.

On May 21, 2008, the court approved a settlement in the case. Under the terms of the agreement, the defendants agreed to a comprehensive continuum of care in a regionalized services delivery system, a system of monitoring, youth-focused care, quality treatment interventions, engagement of families, education and vocational training of youths in the system, a grievance system, access to advocates/attorneys, strong re-entry programs, and a fair and effective release process.

Less than a week before the settlement was approved, the Department of Justice filed its own suit. Details on that case (JI-OH-0006 in this Clearinghouse) are available here. That case was soon settled, and compliance work on the two has continued together. On Feb. 11, 2015, the monitoring Correctional Institution Inspection Committee, issued a report showing a dramatic decline in use of seclusion.

Kristen Sagar - 03/02/2009
Megan Richardson - 06/16/2014


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