State takes responsibility for hobbling juvenile inmates

The director of the Nevada Department of Health And Human Services on Thursday said his department takes responsibility for the institutional abuse allegations of juvenile inmates at the Nevada Youth Training Center in Elko.

Romaine Gilliland spoke during a hearing on the issue held by Clark County Family Court Judge William Voy.

Voy was concerned that the investigations into the allegations didn’t find anything wrong and that no outside experts were brought in to look at the issue.

Gilliland said he is open to bringing in experts to look at the allegations from different perspectives. The allegations were investigated in December by the state, which found that policies and procedures were followed and each use of “mechanical restraints” had been necessary.

Gilliland, who was appointed as director by Gov. Brian Sandoval in June, said it’s important to conduct another assessment of the situation first, before officials take corrective action.

“We need to look at those things that have occurred and learn from them, and clearly put in place specific action steps to change the culture and to change the environment,” he told Voy Thursday. “I can assure you that from the director’s office perspective, you have my commitment and the leadership that’s going to be necessary to move us forward in that direction.”

Last week, Voy called for a review of restraining policies at the state’s juvenile facilities. Earlier this month, he ordered 12 Clark County youths to be returned to his jurisdiction after reports that inmates at the Elko facility were subjected to hobbling.

Voy said the state’s release of information on Wednesday regarding the investigation into the allegations only spurred more questions.

State officials have said the hobbling restraint hasn’t been used at the Elko facility since December. Voy said he appreciates that, but the issue is that it was used.

“It seems to me that … they could have de-escalated the situation without doing what they did,” he said. “Did they really have to go there?”

Steve McBride, deputy administrator for juvenile services in the Division of Child and Family Services, defined hobbling as using a 2-foot chain to connect the wrist restraint to the ankle restraint, preventing the person from standing upright.

Voy asked whether the hobbling of a juvenile inmate described in an Aug. 5 report by Elko staff fell within those guidelines.

McBride said he lacked the information to answer Voy’s question.

According to an Elko center staff report from August, “a youth was instructed to lay in the prone position and did so without incident.” Staff then “entered the youth’s room and placed youth in a belly chain, ankle restraint and then continued by placing the handcuffs on the youth in order to connect the leg irons and belly chains for the hobbles restraint.” Staff “moved the youth to the back of the room. We then exited the room.”

Voy objected to youth being left alone after being hobbled.

Shannon C. Richards, Nevada deputy attorney general, said that there are incident reports from different staff and that to get a full picture of what happened, a person needs to read all reports. From January 2013 to the present, 35 incidents of hobbling occurred at the Elko facility. It was unclear Wednesday whether each incident had been investigated.

Kristina Wildeveld, an attorney in Las Vegas, said she “had a client who lost eyesight from being hobbled up in Elko.”

“Parents’ rights are terminated for grabbing their children by the face,” she added.

The American Correctional Association does not have anything that specifically prohibits or recommends against the use of the hobbling measure for juveniles, Gilliland said Thursday afternoon.

“They suggest proper restraints for the safety of a juvenile or staff member in danger,” he said.

Staff were first authorized to use hobbling a few years back when there were several incidents of assaults on staff, incidents involving youth who were kicking out windows and doors and attempting to escape, McBride said.

Voy also questioned what restraint measures and practices have replaced hobbling, only to learn that the restraint policy has not yet been revised or replaced.

McBride said the allegations made officials take a step back to assess the restraining policy. But, “we have not finalized any policy revisions at this point.”

James “Al” Carpenter, superintendent at Red Rock Academy, a state juvenile facility in Clark County, also was at the hearing. He said mechanical restraints are used at his facility, but youths restrained in that fashion are not left alone. After 30 minutes, restrained youths receive medical checks.

The Elko facility has had issues in the past.

“I’m concerned about staff’s ability to handle difficult youth safely,” he said. “I’ve been concerned about that for a long time.”

Voy requested a timeline for improving practices at the Elko facility.

“There needs to be a huge cultural change in order to prevent that kind of use of force in the future,” he said.

Gilliland responded, “I think we all recognize that improvements can be made.”

Conact Yesenia Amaro at yamaro@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440. Find her on Twitter: @YeseniaAmaro.