5 takeaways from a new report on Lincoln Hills, Wisconsin's troubled youth prison

A youth prison in northern Wisconsin was still struggling with staffing shortages this fall, leading to concerns about safety and youth wellbeing at the facility, according to the latest report by a court-ordered monitor.

A "staffing crisis" at Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls was first noted by the monitor, Teresa Abreu, in a June report, when over a third of positions that work most closely with the youths were unfilled and young people were being kept in their cells for long periods of time for no reason other than understaffing.

The latest report echoed earlier concerns, though it noted that staffing levels have improved, and state Department of Corrections officials said new hires, who finished the training academy in mid-November, have resulted in youth spending more time out of their cells in recent weeks.

The staffing shortages reflect challenges that correctional facilities across the state have been facing in recent months, amid a tight labor market.

Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake continue to be under outside monitoring, following a settlement of a class-action lawsuit that forced an overhaul of how the prison cared for its young inmates.

The latest monitor's report, which was filed in federal court last week, comes as the state and local governments are trying to settle on the location of a new youth prison closer to Milwaukee, to replace Lincoln Hills.

The new report describes conditions at Lincoln Hills observed over three months from August through October, and when the monitor visited the prison in person on Oct. 27.

Here are five takeaways from the report:

Youths still being confined to cells because of understaffing

The monitor expressed continued concern over the "high levels of room confinement," which she called the "new 'normal,' " and its effect on youths' mental health. On days when the prison did not have enough staff, young people would be confined to their cells, not because of any misbehavior, but because the prison didn't have enough staff to safely supervise them.

In some cases, young people were confined to their cells practically all day, with less than three hours of time out of their cells, the report noted.

"Staffing has been inconsistent during this reporting period" from August through October, the monitor wrote. "There were weeks where there were inadequate staffing levels on six of the seven days, and some with as few as one or two."

In an email Friday, state Department of Corrections spokesman John Beard said that in the last two weeks, youths in general population have been out of their rooms 11 hours per day on average, just an hour short of the department's goal of 12 hours. That does not include youths on the prison's "high-risk" units for those with more behavioral problems.

"We've made positive strides in this area since the monitor's visit in late October," he wrote.

Youth spending little time in classrooms or face-to-face with teachers

On days when youths were confined to their cells for understaffing, they didn't go to the prison's classrooms for school and instead did schoolwork from their cells or on their units, the monitor wrote.

The young people said they did not learn as well this way. While on their units, they didn't always have help from teachers and would learn using workbooks and a virtual education platform called Edgenuity, an Arizona-based company that has come under fire for quality concerns at other schools, according to the report.

Young people reported "rarely" going to the prison's classrooms for school. In a review of video footage from random school days, the monitor saw young people in the school rooms on only two of every five days, the report says.

The monitor's report also references a separate report by education consultants hired by the state. That report found similar concerns, including overuse of Edgenuity and lack of services and resources for youth with disabilities, reading difficulties or other special education needs, according to the monitor.

Officials at the youth prison are reviewing the separate report and its recommendations.

Prison hired more youth counselors, still short teachers and social workers

Between August and October, the prison hired about a couple dozen more youth counselors, who work directly with the young people confined at Lincoln Hills, bringing the vacancy rate for youth counselors down from 40% to about 20%, according to the report.

However, the state's Division of Juvenile Corrections continues to struggle to hire teachers and licensed social workers. Six teacher positions, or nearly a third, were vacant, as of Oct. 31, according to the report. Only three of 12 social worker positions were filled. The monitor noted that the division has not been able to hire a social worker since 2018, even though it raised pay, the report said.

The monitor noted that recruiting is a challenge because of the location of Lincoln Hills in rural, northern Wisconsin and because of uncertainty about when Lincoln Hills will close. She also applauded corrections' officials efforts to recruit and retain staff.

Youth did not like new system for encouraging good behavior

The monitor noted that the No. 1 complaint from youth was that they did not like the new behavior motivation system, which started in August. Under the new system, they must earn privileges by being on good behavior and following the rules, according to the report. Young people receive a weekly grade based on their behavior.

Abreu, the monitor, expressed support for the system, which she has seen work well in other youth facilities, and said that in time, it "will have a positive impact on the culture of the facility and focus on youth’s positive behavior."

Prison rooms, units were 'dirtier' than last visit

The monitor noted that the living units and the young people's cells were dirtier than during her last visit in July. One of the boys' units that the monitor visited in late October was experiencing COVID-19 infections and "smelled bad and was dirty," she wrote.

Overall, she said, the young people's cells were not clean and were messy.

She noted that when minimizing the risk of suicide, it is important that rooms be free of clutter and surface areas easily viewed.

Sarah Volpenhein can be emailed at svolpenhei@gannett.com and followed on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 5 takeaways from new report on Lincoln Hills youth prison in Wisconsin