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Northeast Ohio mother concerned about pregnant daughter in Cuyahoga County jail

Posted at 11:12 PM, Dec 06, 2018
and last updated 2019-01-08 16:51:36-05

Michele Skinner is concerned about the health and well-being of her pregnant 28-year-old daughter, who is currently being held at the Cuyahoga County Jail.

Skinner said her daughter is seven months pregnant and has been at the jail for two months, waiting for a trial on a felonious assault charge.

Skinner said she became even more worried about her daughter's safety and living condition, after a comprehensive 52-page reporton the jail was released last month, which uncovered a series of staffing and quality of life issues at the facility.

Skinner said her daughter has repeatedly outlined jail conditions that are not fit for many inmates, especially pregnant women, who have a difficult time using the bunks in some of the living areas.

"I'm very concerned about her situation and that of my unborn grandchild," Skinner said. 

"She's currently sleeping on the concrete floor, because the bunks that they have are in-wall bunks, and they are about 5 feet off the floor," she said. "The menu she's described is disturbing, the food has been sitting around, dried hot-dogs, slices of bread."

Skinner said she's also concerned her daughter is not getting the right amount of prenatal vitamins she needs.

"I'd rather her be home, or released to my custody on house arrest, where we can ensure that she's receiving the proper care," Skinner said.

"We don't live in a third-world country, we are in the United States, and they do have basic human rights and basic human needs that need to be met by our corrections facilities."

Meanwhile, Cuyahoga County issued a statement, and told News 5 changes and improvements at the jail are already being made:

"Juveniles are now receiving double portions and milk, and a night time snack pack at each meal.

The jail administration worked with CMSD and scheduled classes will begin December 10th.

Juveniles are now segregated; they are in unit 4E.

Shower curtains have all been added – every unit.

We are currently working with Public Works on kitchen items; some of the issues involve structural changes.

We are doing an rfp for a potential vendor to run the kitchen (a professional kitchen management company)

And we are working on an rfp for an off-site food vendor so that we have something to fall back on if we need to do major repair in the kitchen, and take it offline for a couple of days, or in an emergency event.

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