THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 29, 1996 TAG: 9605290396
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID POOLE AND LAURA LAFAY, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: POWHATAN LENGTH: 59 lines
Three members of the Virginia Crime Commission visited the Beaumont Juvenile Correctional Center on Tuesday to see for themselves the conditions that have prompted a federal investigation of the facility.
Beaumont, which houses the state's most serious child offenders, is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for alleged physical and mental abuse of residents, improper use of isolation and segregation cells, high risk of violence and inadequate medical and mental health care.
The facility, built to accommodate 250 children, holds 410. Eighty percent of those children are African-American and half come from Southeastern Virginia, said Norfolk Sheriff Robert McCabe, chairman of the state Board of Youth and Family Services, which sets policy for facilities like Beaumont.
``What do you do with a violent kid who has committed a violent crime? Where do you put them?'' McCabe asked after the tour. ``There's not one secure mental health facility for juveniles in this state. There is a need for other types of facilities and that's what we're doing right now.''
Millions of dollars worth of capital improvements are being made in juvenile centers across the state, McCabe said. At Beaumont, a $31 million expansion, due to open next summer, will enable the segregation of hard-core offenders from the general population.
On Tuesday, however, Beaumont Superintendent George Wakefield spent much of the three-hour tour apologizing for the overcrowded facilities, including:
A cottage built for 24 youths that houses 58.
A cramped cafeteria where youths must be served in 16 separate seatings.
A ratio of one counselor for every 32 kids.
``Everything you see here is makeshift,'' Wakefield said.
Beaumont's staff appeared to have taken pains to improve conditions for the benefit of those touring. Isolation cells that contained only steel bunks and bare floors a few months ago were newly outfitted with mattresses and chairs. The sole cottage on the tour had been spruced up with blue paint fresh enough to come off on the hands of those who reached for a stairwell bannister.
Patricia West, who heads the Department of Youth and Family Services, later said ``I welcome you to come back anytime, unannounced.''
``We might take you up on that,'' said Del. Raymond ``Andy'' Guest, a Front Royal Republican who chairs the Corrections Subcommittee of the State Crime Commission.
At Beaumont's school, officials led the tour to a class where 15 students sat quietly at their desks. But across the hall, the sound of yelling and pounding on walls could be heard through a shut door. A teacher opened the door briefly and called for a security guard, who led a youth from the room.
``You should be locked up for life,'' the teacher shouted after the student before slamming the door shut.
Attracted by the commotion, Guest and Roanoke Del. C.A. ``Chip'' Woodrum stepped into the ruckus. Seeing them, the teacher quickly opened a desk drawer and pulled out a textbook, ``A Young Person's Guide to Getting and Keeping a Good Job.'' This was a job skills course, the teacher said.
But when asked what kind of textbook they were using, several students shrugged.
``We don't do no work,'' one said. ``All we do is sit in here and talk to each other.''
KEYWORDS: BEAUMONT JUVENILE CORRECTIONAL CENTER by CNB