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Some Tryon staffers get orders of protection
Official calls move a reaction to policy change at facility
Saturday, October 4, 2008
JOHNSTOWN — Several employees at the Tryon Residential Center have sought and obtained orders of protection against residents at the troubled facility in what state officials are characterizing as “push back” against recent policy changes at Tryon. Edward Borges, the communications director at the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, which runs Tryon, said the state has been attempting to reform its program for troubled youths at facilities like Tryon in an effort to make them more rehabilitative. The state has also closed four similar facilities in an attempt to keep more troubled youths closer to where they come from, usually New York City. “Tryon was a facility where a child was killed through use of restraints. Employees there punched a child who was in restraints just a couple of months ago,” Borges said. “[Our old system] utilized what’s called the corrections model with these kids. Basically we treated them the same as you would in an adult correctional facility, the safety and control model. But that doesn’t work with kids aged 10 to 16.” Agency officials said part of the restructuring at Tryon has included reducing the number of residents there by approximately 50 percent since the beginning of the summer. According to the state, there are currently 12 female residents in Tryon’s “secure” facility, 27 females in the limited security area and 57 males in the limited security area. Tryon does not have a tighter than limited-security male area. CSEA union spokesman Stephen Madarasz said the Tryon employees who have sought orders of protection no longer feel safe at Tryon because of the policy changes. “I think they’re doing it because they’re concerned about the work environment and they don’t feel like they have the support of the agency,” Madarasz said. Fulton County District Attorney Louise Sira said she asked Perth Town Court to grant one of three orders of protection issued by that court for Tryon employees. She said she is not attempting to influence policy at Tryon but has been forced to use the unprecedented step of asking for the orders of protection as a means of addressing an influx in criminal complaints coming out of the facility. “My job is to prosecute these criminal cases to the best of my office’s ability and to protect the victims. I would not be doing my job if I did not recognize that there is an escalating issue at that facility, and that is evidenced by the increased number of criminal cases in the town of Perth,” Sira said. Sira said there have been about 10 to 15 criminal cases involving Tryon on the Perth Town Court docket over the last several months. She said the orders of protection do not require that residents be kept away from the court-protected employees, but do provide an additional penalty of contempt of court if there are further incidents. In August, Charles Loftly, a Tryon aide, suffered a stroke and died a month after police said he was hit in the head with a board by a teenage resident of the institution. An Oneida County coroner ruled his death was from natural causes and not related to the assault. Loftly, 60, had been a youth development aide at the facility since 1984. He was in a coma in a Utica hospital for about a week prior to his death. He was attacked on July 16 during an apparent escape attempt by at least three Tryon residents, according to an official who represents Tryon workers. State police charged a 16-year-old Tryon resident, Randall Bell, with second-degree assault in the attack. Police said Bell removed a piece of wood from a desk and struck Loftly on the back of the head with it. The recent troubles follow a 2006 incident in which 15-year-old Tryon resident Darryl Thompson died from a heart arrhythmia caused by stress after being restrained by staff, according to an investigation. No criminal charges were filed in the case, but in August the U.S. Department of Justice announced a investigation into alleged civil rights violations at the facility. Borges said some of the difficulties at Tryon can be attributed to the need for more training. He said on Oct. 20 Tryon employees will begin a new training program aimed at curbing future violence at the facility. Get ALL of our news...Click here to subscribe to our online edition, a complete replica of our print edition.
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July 3, 2009
8:53 a.m. [ Suggest removal ]
For those who think that elections don't matter, here is exhibit 1 to the contrary. Elect a Democrat governor and these clueless social workers and community activists come out from under their New York city rocks to preach to the "common folk" in "cow country" who are "bitterly clinging to their guns and God."
Obviously the purpose of Mr. Borges and his boss are to make the working conditions at Tryon dangerous and unworkable so they can justify moving the center nearer to the city and under their financial sphere of influence.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. Paterson and all the rest want to starve out upstate to pay for their lavish spending downstate.
11:32 a.m. [ Suggest removal ]
Here goes Borges again putting blame on staff for all of the agencies problems. We will always be no good upstate employees to them and we will always be reason the facilities have problems to them. This is a losing battle for us. If we need more training then why wasn't it done a long time ago? Why not before staff made there concerns public? Who is being held accountable for not providing the proper amount of training? How are all facilities going to get this training(this is a state wide issue not a just Tryon issue)? This training is just going to be used as another tool for them to close the facility. It will be said they have changed Administrators several times and retrained all staff put still have issues so we are closing the facility, even though they say right now that there is no intention to close Tryon. If there was no intention then why have we been threatened with it for so long?
Yes a resident died at Tryon after having been restrained. After intensive NYS troopers investigation and grand jury trail the staff involved were found to have followed policy and not guilty of any criminal activity. So I hope those staff attempt to sue Borges for his statement here. Also yes a staff punched a resident, he admitted to his lose of self control and making the mistake and has paid his debt to through the justice system but is still being persecuted by ocfs.
11:40 a.m.
11:50 a.m. [ Suggest removal ]
I have been an employee of DFY / OCFS for the past 19 years. I have never NEVER seen the waste and non-sence of Home office that we see today.. Ms. Clarion has no clue how a Facility, Group Home, Evening Reporting Center is run. I would put money on that Ms. Clarion and here Staff don't even know how a juvenile is sent to OCFS. Joyece B. Tony H. and Eddie Borgess are all head hunters. If I was running OCFS those would be the first 4 to go. What happened to promoting from with in. Yes some will say a new broom sweeps clean this is true but you must know what you are doing to use the broom. I bet Gladys has never swept her own floor.
I keep hearing these poor kids. If OCFS caried about the children the Home Office staff would be driving Ford Focus' or Chevy Cavilers NOT Toyota Highlanders at the tune of $42,000 per car. The day I went to HO on the Train there must have been 40 -50 new Toyota Highlanders in the parking Lot being conseritvie 40 X $32,000 $128,000 out of our pockets.
Newspaper staff please invesagate the background OF MS Clarion and here group of 32 that were hand chosed to reform OCFS. 28 of the 32 are from Metro NYC. Only 4 are on the East side of the Hudson. and NO representation from CSEA. and O ZERO from Erie County (Buffalo) the second largest City in NY. Glady thinks New York State is all west of the hudson.
8:24 a.m. [ Suggest removal ]
On my post dated 10/5/2008 11:50 AM it should read last paragraph " Only 4 are on the WEST side of the Hudson.
On my post dated 10/5/2008 11:40 AM for those of you wondering what bad things I said. It was blank I was new to this posting stuff.
Have a good day
9:06 p.m. [ Suggest removal ]
What is it going to take for someone to take notice of what is going on and get Gladys Carrion out of there? Is it going to take another death? Resident or Staff? Ms. Carrion has no clue what she is doing and her ONLY agenda is to close all the upstate facilities and move the jobs to NYC to treat HER children. As anyone in any of the Facilities will tell you - to quote her "she is not going support upstate NY on the backs of her minority children". Her plan is to send these kids back to the communities they came from. Do you want a burgler, robber, assualter, gang banger back in your neighborhood to be treated? Back on the streets with guns and who knows what else? Who is going to MAKE these children go to their treatments? She has already begun her plan to close facilites - first she says we will just close these units so that we can renorm the facility and retrain the staff (what she doesn't say is that she will NEVER reopen those units), then she stops sending residents to that facility so that she can "show" that those facilities are not needed... It is happening right now she has already begun the process - now is the time to FIGHT - we can not sit on our hands it will happen to us too.