A new approach being championed by the state of Wisconsin is being blamed by a union official for breakdowns in security at Wisconsin’s two juvenile prisons that are now the targets of criminal and civil rights investigations.
Beginning in 2012, staff at the Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for girls were trained in and began using trauma-informed care principles. A 2014 report by the Division of Juvenile Corrections summarizing use of the approach credits it with a sharp reduction in disciplinary referrals.
Department of Corrections spokesman Tristan Cook said trauma-informed care now is the “standard approach” to juvenile corrections in several states, including Wisconsin.
But Troy Bauch, a union official who represents workers at the two facilities, said he believes the introduction of trauma-informed care led to the alleged abuse now under investigation. And, Bauch said, the new approach has led to offender-on-staff attacks.
[For more of this story, written by Dee J. Hall, go to http://www.postcrescent.com/st...part-three/84654750/]
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