MASSILLON, Ohio — Union leaders are fed up about staff getting beaten up at the Indian River Juvenile Correctional Facility. As of April 2, the facility isn’t accepting any more kids due to safety and staffing shortages.
The DYS director sent a letter to Stark County juvenile judges, notifying them of the change.
News 5 has reported on problems at Indian River in Massillon for years.
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RELATED: More than 60 staff attacks in 6 months at Indian River Juvenile Correctional Facility
Union leaders and staff are begging Governor Mike DeWine for help with the violence after two back-to-back assaults last month.
“Two more people assaulted with keyboards. The CO who got assaulted got her mace taken from her. I guess she was stomped on the back, beaten on the head," OCSEA President Chris Mabe said.
Mabe says there’s been more than 90 assaults on staff since last October and wants the violence to stop.
They met with staff last Thursday to talk about resources, including applying for Ohio Crime Victims Compensation.
The union says all the units had only one juvenile corrections officer assigned when it’s supposed to be two, and officers expressed concerns about their safety; some had been assaulted multiple times.
“They want people in here to basically keep your mouth shut, your head down, and your eyes open and we’re sick and tired of our people getting beat up,” Mabe said.
A corrections officer, who union leaders say works part-time at Indian River to help with staffing shortages, begged Governor DeWine for help in a March 30 email.
The officer wrote how she can’t stop thinking about blood all over the floor from one assault, and that teens are committing violence because nothing happens to them.
“They just practically get rewarded for it,” JCO and Union Chapter President for Indian River, Davion Thomas, said.
News 5 asked Thomas how.
“Through meals,” Thomas replied.
Thomas said the juveniles are not being reprimanded.
Last Thursday, DYS suspended intake at Indian River for a month, citing staff safety and staffing shortages.
“No, that’s a terrible idea. In Dayton, Ohio, all of our crimes are caused by juveniles. There’s no accountability here; our juvenile justice system is very weak,” State Representative Phil Plummer said.
Plummer says the answer is accountability. He co-sponsored a bill that would tack on 7 years for a felonious assault that injures an employee and 3 extra years if bodily fluids are thrown on staff.
“These are Ohioans working for us, keeping them safe, and have to deal with this nonsense, we're just not going to tolerate it anymore,” Plummer said.
Assaults on staff aren’t the only problem at Indian River. DYS video from January shows when a 15-year-old boy was paralyzed from the neck down, his mom says, after a fight with another teen in a day room.
Plummer plans to look into changing the age range for those housed in juvenile correctional facilities. He says adults shouldn’t be allowed.
“If you’re going to be a tough guy as an 18-year-old, go to the big boy prison, you know and have a good time there trying to be a tough guy,” Plummer said.
Mabe says it’s time to change the leadership and get a new director.
As for the staffing issues, Plummer says the culture needs to change so people feel safe working there. He recommends having professionals come in to see what security measures need improvement.
News 5 requested to speak with someone at DYS about all of this, but no one was made available.
