Some of Ohio's most violent and notorious teenagers were moved Wednesday as the state preparesto shut down a juvenile corrections facility plagued by violent attacks and attempted escapes.
Troopers with the Ohio State Highway Patrol followed closely as vans carried offenders from theMarion Juvenile Correctional Institution to other facilities throughout the state, 10TV's MaureenKocot reported.
Among the juveniles being moved Wednesday were three young men, who earlier this week climbed toa rooftop and refused to come down for five hours.
The Marion facility was also the scene of a gang-related fight involving about 40 prisoners.Just a few days before the fight, a female guard was attacked by a 16-year-old boy, Kocotreported.
The institution's most violent offenders spent time in cells where they could be handcuffed, andeven fed, without coming into contact with a guard. But now the Department of Youth Services isclosing the Marion facility and the state is taking a new approach in helping troubled teens.
"We need a carrot and stick approach," said Tom Stickrath, director of DYS. "Sometimes it's easyto have the stick, but we really need some carrots to make the sticks work better."
At the Scioto Juvenile Correctional Institution in Delaware, offenders currently receive aboutsix hours of education each day. The state is also emphasizing drug, alcohol and mental healthcounseling.
Star, an 18-year-old inmate who asked that her last name not be identified, transferred to theScioto facility after hanging out with the wrong crowd and getting in trouble. She said she copedby hurting herself.
"I started cutting; I tied a bag around my head in the bathroom and I tried to hang myself,"Star said.
After undergoing intensive therapy, Star has learned to talk about her pain, instead ofattacking it. Once she bragged about always "being on the inside," but now she has biggergoals.
"I like to write a lot," she said. "I want one of my books to get published."
Faced with a lawsuit and complaints of excessive use of force by guards and youth-on-youthviolence, DYS is making drastic changes. The department has already hired more than 100 new guards,and plans to hire and additional 40 corrections officers in 2010, Kocot reported.
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