Objective

To determine the extent of implementation of the two recommendations included in our initial audit report, Oversight of Juvenile Justice Facilities (Report 2022-S-13).

About the Program

The Office of Children and Family Services’ (OCFS) mission is to serve New York’s public by promoting the safety, permanency, and well-being of our children, families, and communities. Toward this end, OCFS, through its Division of Juvenile Justice and Opportunities for Youth (DJJOY), is responsible for the operation and oversight of nine State-run residential juvenile justice facilities that serve court-placed youth. The nine facilities include three secure facilities, five limited-secure facilities, and one non-secure facility. OCFS must ensure that these facilities are operated in good condition and in compliance with the DJJOY Policy and Procedure Manual, conduct regular fire safety inspections, have an emergency plan, maintain sanitary conditions, and provide health screenings upon admission. Further, OCFS must ensure that facility staff are properly trained and that, when incidents (e.g., assault, possession of contraband, self-harm, employee misconduct, restraints of youth) occur, facilities log and report them as required.

The objective of our initial audit, issued on April 3, 2024, was to determine whether OCFS adequately operated juvenile justice facilities for court-placed youth to ensure they met State standards and regulations for the health and safety of juveniles and staff. The audit covered the period from October 2018 through August 2023.

The audit found weaknesses in several aspects of OCFS’ operation of DJJOY facilities. Specifically, OCFS had not ensured that certain admission assessments and screenings, including health-related assessments, were completed and documented as required or were done within the required time frames, creating the risk of missed or delayed opportunities to identify or provide care for physical health conditions (e.g., vision or dental issues, diabetes) or mental health concerns (e.g., depression, anxiety) youth may have when admitted to DJJOY facilities. These assessments and screenings can be vital because youth entering juvenile justice programs often have a history of medical neglect.

Further, OCFS did not ensure that all direct care staff were current with the training to be authorized to restrain youth. As a result, employees may not be familiar with or understand their roles in the event of an emergency. Additionally, OCFS did not always ensure the reviews of incidents were complete or thoroughly documented. We identified restraint incidents that were missing support that a complete review of the events had been conducted. OCFS officials attributed most of our findings to ongoing staffing challenges and acknowledged the impact of these challenges on providing critical assessments, keeping staff up to date on training, and other administrative functions.

Key Finding

OCFS addressed the problems we identified in the initial audit report. Of the two audit recommendations in the initial report, both were implemented.