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June 22, 2012

Youth facility plans to hire more security staff

Sue Loughlin The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — Gibault Services Inc. has begun taking steps to address the community’s safety and security concerns, one of its top officials said Thursday afternoon.

“It’s my community as well,” Michele Madley, Gibault vice president and executive director of the Terre Haute campus, said in an interview with The Tribune-Star. “When incidents occur in the community, we do take that very seriously.”

She met Wednesday with Vigo County Sheriff Greg Ewing to talk about steps that can be taken, and she also plans to meet with Indiana State Police.

Gibault “would be more than willing to meet” with a newly formed committee consisting of homeowners association representatives, law enforcement and Vigo County School Corp. officials, she said. Madley said she wants to hear their concerns and their suggestions.

Gibault plans to hire additional safety and security staff who can respond to crisis situations, but based on Gibault’s license, its employees cannot carry weapons, she said.

“We can have no weapons on our campus, and therefore we do not hire plainclothes police officers that would be paid by us,” she said.

The exception would be members of law enforcement who respond to incidents on campus, “but they are not employed by us,” she said.

Currently, during the week, Gibault has two safety/security staff during the day, one in the evening and one overnight. That will increase to two safety/security staff in the evening, she said.

On weekends, currently there is one safety/security person for each weekend shift. That will increase to two in the morning and two in the evening, she said.

Ewing suggested Gibault contact law enforcement more quickly when residents are attempting to leave campus. He also suggested that sheriff’s department patrols drive through campus and have greater visibility there.

Madley said she’s invited the sheriff’s department “to feel free to come to any of our meals on campus” to dine with children and increase sheriff’s department visibility at Gibault, and that invitation also would be extended to state police.

Gibault also plans to meet with its licensing agency, the Indiana Department of Child Services, “and discuss with them situations we have had occurring and hopefully discuss alternatives” that could be implemented “to improve the current situation,” Madley said.

Gibault is a residential treatment facility, not a detention center, she said. It is licensed by the state Department of Child Services.

Because of its licensing, it does have limitations in how it can respond to situations, Madley said.

Gibault chief executive officer Jim Sinclair told the Tribune-Star last week that the facility is not allowed to lock down or confine the youths. The doors lock to prohibit anyone from entering the facilities, but the youths can walk outside whenever they want.

In the psychiatric treatment unit, which houses about 20 to 25 youths at a time, there is a 30-second delay on a door before anyone can leave. But after 30 seconds, that youth can still walk outside — and keep on going if he or she chooses, Sinclair said.

The consequences of leaving Gibault grounds can be that the youth can be sent to a criminal juvenile center if a crime is committed. Or the youth can be allowed to return to Gibault if the walkaway resulted in no criminal behavior.

Madley said the Department of Child Services has advised Gibault that if a child leaves Gibault property, staff should not pursue the children but instead contact police.

If children attempting to leave are still on campus, Gibault staff are trained to use therapeutic crisis intervention (TCI). But to implement it, there must be two staff members to restrain the child and an observer, Madley said.

She acknowledged Gibault may not always have the necessary staffing to implement TCI, particularly if multiple juveniles are attempting to leave campus. She gave the example of three children fleeing a dorm with two staff members on hand.

Gibault is in compliance with state regulations as far as staffing, she said. Typically Gibault has 65 to 70 residents at a time (ages 6 to 21) from all over the state, and it currently has 130 employees at the Terre Haute campus. It is in the process of hiring 25 new staff.

She noted that so far this year, Gibault has served 25 youths from Vigo and surrounding counties.

Madley said other changes have occurred since the late 1980s and early 1990s. Back then, Gibault was allowed to use handcuffs, mechanical restraints, seclusion rooms and other measures to restrain residents. But those can no longer be used because of changes at the state level, she said.

That’s the result of children being harmed or even dying in some treatment facilities “because of misuse of those tools,” Madley said.

She said some of the Gibault residents do have criminal records, but others do not. When a youth ends up in residential treatment, such as at Gibault, “that usually means he or she has not been successful with other interventions,” Madley said.

Gibault is committed to addressing concerns, she said. “Gibault will take whatever steps we are permitted to take,” she said.

All options are on the table, and fencing has not been ruled out, she said, although the campus has 360 acres. “Everything right now to keep individuals in the community safe is a consideration,” she said.

At the same time, “We have to consider cost, whether it is permitted from a state licensing perspective, and whether it would be a good tool to prevent residents from going AWOL,” she said.

“I don’t wish for the community to feel unsafe,” Madley said. “I live two minutes from here. I’m as concerned as the rest of the residents residing around Gibault.”

Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.

 

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