Broken bones, chipped teeth, bruises and cuts. These are some of the injuries suffered by Colorado youth in secure facilities when staff use force to detain them. To be clear, Colorado Department of Human Services Division of Youth Services (DYS) policy allows staff to use force to physically restrain youth who pose a danger or threat to themselves or others. But an analysis of such cases by the Office of the Colorado Child Protection Ombudsman (CPO) found that current reviews of these restraints are insufficient and fail to determine if the use of force was justified.
Download the full issue brief HERE.
The use of physical force within DYS youth centers has been at the center of discussions in Colorado for more than a decade. In fact, during the past two fiscal years, the Office of the Colorado Child Protection Ombudsman (CPO) was contacted by 130 youth currently or formally residing in DYS facilities. In total, 25 percent of those cases concerned staff misconduct or the misuse of physical restraints – the majority of which were called in by youth themselves.
The CPO independently reviews case documentation, video surveillance footage and staff-generated incident reports detailing these incidents. However, the agency has not been able to determine whether the staff’s use of force was appropriate. This is because none of the current DYS surveillance systems capture audio of incidents inside facilities – a key element in making such a determination.
The CPO released an issue brief — Surveillance Within the Division of Youth Services: How current efforts to monitor the use of physical restraints fall short — which demonstrates how this gap impacts the safety and well-being of youth in DYS facilities. These concerns are compounded by data that shows the use of physical restraints have recently started to increase in Colorado – more so for youth of color. In several cases brought to the CPO, youth have stated that staff antagonized them with racial slurs before or during the restraints.
Issue Brief