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ALBANY -- In the wake of the brutal shooting of a New York City police officer by a former resident of astate operated juvenile detention center, CSEA today slammed a state Office of Children and FamilyServices plan to escalate the release of juvenile offenders from upstate facilities and place them in

community programs.

Officer Kevin Brennan was critically injured Jan. 21 after being shot in the back of the head inside aBrooklyn public housing project. The suspected shooter, Luis (Baby) Ortiz, had been released by OCFSfrom the Goshen Secure Center in Orange County. Police said Ortiz, who had violently assaulted an aidewhile at the facility, was also wanted for the New Years Day murder of 34-year-old Shannon McKinney in

front of a Brooklyn supermarket.

It appears that Ortiz was released by the NYS Office of Children and Family Services when his time wasserved, even though he was in the county jail on assault charges after an altercation with staff and could

have had his time extended by the agency.

CSEA is concerned that city agencies and not-for-profit providers wont be up to the task of dealing withyouthful offenders. There is also concern that shifting jobs from the state may open the door to corruptionand patronage. The unions biggest concern is the lack of an adequate plan as to how the proposal wouldwork. There is little detail in the OCFS budget proposal for radically downsizing state youth detention

facilities and shifting custody to ill-prepared alternative agencies.

You cant just announce an undertaking as large as this and offer no plan or any details whatsoever as tohow you intend for it to work, said CSEA President Danny Donohue. Still, the public is being asked to

blindly buy in with this Dont worry, just trust us, mentality.

Donohue said the dedicated and highly qualified workers who put themselves on the line every day, oftenbeing beaten and battered by youths assigned to their care, are being rewarded by having their jobs

eliminated and their futures jeopardized.

Donohue said residents at state juvenile detention centers are put there because they belong there. Manyact out violently and, but for their age, most would be in prison for the crimes they committed. Somehave serious mental health and substance abuse issues that successive OCFS administrations have failed to

address, even in secure settings. Many of the youth have been sent by the courts to state facilities aftermultiple offenses and after less restrictive programs have failed to change their behavior.

There are real public safety concerns that need to be addressed here, Donohue said. It makes no sensewhatsoever to put these felons violent, repeat offenders back into the very neighborhoods where

they got in trouble in the first place.

CSEA has been calling for a more responsible approach to New York states juvenile justice system foryears, warning about dangerously deteriorating conditions at state juvenile detention facilities, includingone at which 19 staff, including the facility director, have recently been victims of violent attacks by youths

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in their care.News reports recently revealed that 18 out of 33 youth division aides (YDAs) currently employed at theTaberg Residential Center in Oneida County are out of work due to severe injuries suffered in attacks by

residents.

Their injuries include two broken collarbones, a concussion, a broken ankle and a dislocated shoulder. Tocover for their injured co-workers and provide the round-the-clock supervision residents require, the

remaining aides must work double shifts, making their physically and emotionally draining jobs even morestressful and more dangerous.

Taberg is symptomatic of a larger problem. According to a report issued by the state Department of CivilService on state employee Workers Compensation claims, YDAs have the second highest on-the-job

injury rate of all state job titles.

Violent attacks on staff by youths in their care have increased at an alarming rate under current OCFSpolicies that include shifting the agency from a correctional model to a so-called sanctuary model whichcenters on reducing or eliminating restraints and providing more therapeutic care. In current OCFS

policy, violent youth are not held accountable for infractions that would increase their length of stay inOCFS facilities.

Additionally, the Goshen Secure Center has been found in violation of the Public Employee Safety andHealth Act by the NY State Department of Labor for not addressing condition that have led to an increase

in workplace violence incidents at the facility.

Despite attempts by the union and the aides it represents to work cooperatively with OCFS officials tomake the sanctuary model a success, front-line workers were never given the staff, resources and support,

to make it work.

CSEA also blames OCFS for creating a myth of empty facilities deliberately running down residentpopulation at certain facilities by manipulating the transfer of youths to other facilities in order to justifyclosing the now under populated facilities and move youths into the community, whether community

programs were ready to meet their needs or not.

Current community-based programs are entirely inadequate to handle the challenges presented by youthsbeing dumped into them. That has led to tragic consequences CSEA believes city officials should seriously

consider before buying into the idea of bringing troubled youths into their communities.

City officials, including Mayor Bloomberg, who welcome this proposal as some kind of jobs bill better becareful what you wish for, Donohue said, noting that existing facilities dont have the resources necessaryto deal with the complex array of problems the young offenders will present. This will be another Rene

Greco times a hundred.

Donohue was referring to the murder of Buffalo area direct care worker Rene Greco by a youth who hadbeen released by OCFS to her care. He pointed to that and the shootings of Brennan and Rochester policeofficer Anthony DiPonzio as grim reminders of the tragic consequences that result from moving troubled

youth into the community without adequate resources and supervision.

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These tragic incidents are only some of the glaring examples of what results when violent youth are

inappropriately released into the community.

OCFS has consistently shown a complete disregard for the safety of staff, residents or members of thecommunity, ignoring the concerns of CSEA, community members and law enforcement officialsDonohue said. This rapid and reckless dumping of violent individuals back onto the streets is dangerous

and irresponsible and will continue to put unsuspecting communities at risk.