MASSILLON, Ohio — This week marks once year since the uprising at Indian River Juvenile Correctional Facility in Massillon, when youth inmates broke out of their rooms and forced a 12-hour stand off as they barricaded themselves inside the facility's school.
Days before that, corrections officer David Upshaw was brutally attacked by a youth inmate, leaving him fighting for his life.
A year later, staff say not much has changed to prevent these types of incidents from happening again.
"The administration says the acts of violence seem to be decreasing," Ohio Civil Service Employees Association President Christopher Mabe tells 3News. "They keep telling us they've got a handle on things, and the next thing you know, there's these other acts of violence."
Mabe represents workers at Indian River and around the state. He visited the facility Tuesday after learning seven staff members have been assaulted there since Oct. 8.
"Very hard assaults. I mean, they're life changing events," Mabe said. "These aren't things of small instances where somebody is being pushed or somebody is pinched; these are incidents of large-scale violence that change peoples lives."
An employee spoke to WKYC anonymously to protect their job, and said a youth inmate attacked a teacher this past week because the teacher found the youth's contraband and turned it in. That sent the teacher and a youth specialist (known as a YS) who tried to break it up both to the hospital.
"Word was out that there was going to be an assault, and of course, no protections were done," the staff member claimed. "And the kid went to assault the staff and the YS that was there went to protect the staff and got spilt open with chairs."
We reached out to the Department of Youth Services about these issues and a spokesperson shared the following statement:
"Juvenile justice centers across the country are currently experiencing unprecedented staff shortages. Indian River Juvenile Correctional Facility is currently slated for 142 juvenile correctional officers; we currently have 28 vacancies.
"We are now offering a teamwork incentive of $150 to employees who accept a weekend shift assignment (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday) to provide safety, security, and meaningful activities for the youth at Indian River. This is up from the previous incentive of $50 a shift. The $50 incentive is still in place Monday – Thursday.
"We also disseminated new equipment to designated staff, including more secure key chains, radio holsters, and heavy-duty utility belts and policy was created to support the implementation of body-worn cameras (BWC). Additionally, policy was updated to support the use and implementation of Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) spray as well as multiple physical security upgrades being implemented. (These security upgrades are not public record pursuant to R.C. 149.4330).
"To further enhance safety, all direct care staff members have gone through targeted training aimed at reducing youth-on-staff violence which focused on situational awareness, equipment security, trauma-informed care, and verbal de-escalation. DYS is also in the process of forming Crisis Assistance and Response Engagement teams at each of our facilities made up of staff members who will have specialized training in de-escalation, trauma, motivational interviewing, and use of force. These teams will be an additional resource to respond to youth in crisis."
But some staff members say that's still not enough.
"Talking to the staff, it seems like their whole conclusion is, 'Nothing changes,'" Mabe stated. "They feel like no one is doing anything to protect them, that things just run rampant inside the facilities, that they don't have safety and security devices to help protect themselves and provide a safe secure humane environment for youth. And even talking to some of the youth up there today, they feel like there is a loss of control inside the facility."