Inmates of Boys' Training School v. Southworth

76 F.R.D. 115, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14566
CourtDistrict Court, D. Rhode Island
DecidedAugust 9, 1977
DocketCiv. A. No. 4529
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 76 F.R.D. 115 (Inmates of Boys' Training School v. Southworth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Rhode Island primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Inmates of Boys' Training School v. Southworth, 76 F.R.D. 115, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14566 (D.R.I. 1977).

Opinion

OPINION

PETTINE, Chief Judge.

This action seeks injunctive relief against defendants for failure to fully implement consent orders entered on April 19, 1973 and June 19, 1973, setting minimum standards for the rehabilitative treatment of juveniles confined to the Youth Corrections Center (YCC), a segregated, fenced-in area within the Boys’ Training School (BTS), a state institution in Cranston, Rhode Island. The decrees were entered following a hearing for a preliminary injunction, wherein the Court ordered the parties to submit appropriate plans for its approval. The parties negotiated a compromise, submitted the April 19 and June 19 orders to the Court to be entered by agreement, and thus avoided a final hearing on the merits for a permanent injunction. See Inmates of the Boys’ Training School v. Affleck, 346 F.Supp. 1354 (D.R.I.1972).

In spite of the condition of settlement that all aspects of the consent order be complied with by January 1, 1974, and in spite of the repeated attempts by counsel for the plaintiffs to obtain compliance through a cooperative effort, the juveniles in question continue to be deprived of those programs to which they are entitled.

Thirteen separate violations are alleged by the plaintiffs, each of which requires a review of the evidence and findings of fact by the Court; this will be done under the appropriate heading of the particular complaint.

A. Lack of Psychiatric and Psychological Services1

The Plan approved by the Court requires that each resident of the YCC be screened by a psychiatrist within 48 hours of admission and that each resident of the BTS be screened within 7 days of admission; and that within 21 days an interdisciplinary team, including the psychologist, meet and develop an individualized Treatment Plan for that resident, to be reviewed monthly. The Plan also provides for a psychiatric review of the status of all residents of the YCC on a weekly basis and further that the psychiatrist and a psychologist assist with staff training and program development.

Of all the requirements set forth in the Plan none hold the same position of importance as this one. Nevertheless, the record evidences an almost apathetic attitude on the part of management, toward this crucial component of the plan approved by the Court.

Dr. Leo Carroll conducted a study of the Training School in June 1974. He examined twenty files at random and found that less than half had individual treatment plans established.

[118]*118In July of 1976 another survey of the files was made, and it revealed that in the majority of cases there were no psychiatric and psychological examinations; that of the thirty-three boys at the Training School only one-third had psychiatric examinations though they had been admitted to the School a total of eighty-five times. Each admission mandated a separate psychiatric and psychological examination; however, only eleven psychiatrics and twenty-two psychological were completed; and on less than one-fourth was an Individual Treatment Plan established, setting forth, as required by the Comprehensive Classification and Treatment Plan, the clinical needs, problems and personality of the resident, the rationale and intermediate and long range goals of the treatment, a description of the daily program and activities, and the date on which the interdisciplinary team was to meet and review the program.

The following cases are illustrative of the shortcomings of the psychiatric evaluation program. A fourteen-year-old boy admitted in December of 1973 on a murder charge was not referred to a psychiatrist for examination until eight months after admission and even then was not examined, though recommendations made by the psychologist could not be followed until the psychiatric was completed. The psychologist finally referred him to an outside agency so that sessions could be initiated on an ongoing basis in the community with a psychiatrist. Another sixteen-year-old was admitted to the Training School on February 20, 1975 and as of March 3, 1977 had not been seen by a psychiatrist. The result of such omissions is that comprehensive planning for such youngsters cannot be effectuated.

As part of the general malaise, the evidence also proves a failure to make weekly reviews as required by the order. The order requires that “[a]t least once each week, the qualified psychiatrist responsible for the unit, the residents’ assigned social worker and other appropriate personnel shall meet with the superintendent or assistant superintendent and review the progress of each resident confined in the Youth Correctional Center . . .”

The defendants’ reply does not directly confront the failures pointed out in plaintiffs’ case. They answer the single accusation of the fourteen-year-old boy by merely saying he was referred to a Health Clinic. In stating this they omit to note that this was done by the psychologist in apparent desperation, after the boy failed to receive the psychiatric help he needed at the Center. Furthermore, defendants ignore the fact that the Plan required development of individual treatment by an interdisciplinary team with psychiatric help where appropriate. It was shown that the psychiatrist employed by the state was not available as needed.

Defendants further respond by saying the Court decree was disregarded because the “professional in charge” should decide what tests ought to be given each individual. The Court sees this as a rather bare faced statement oblivious to the fact the defendants consented to the decree. This same attitude of self-determination as to whether the defendants would follow the Court order is evident in the argument they make that the time limits for psychological evaluations are unrealistic. In 1973 they agreed to the order and at no time have they ever moved for a change of that part of the decree.

As to the defendants’ failure to have weekly meetings as described in the order, they merely reply that they do have weekly meetings. True, but the evidence shows the superintendent and the psychiatrist are not present at these meetings and that up to three months after the filing of the plaintiffs’ motion in this case they were informal and undocumented. Furthermore, they do not consider, as is required, the right of the youth to participate in vocational and physical educational instruction.

The defendants also argue that budgetary constraints prevented the hiring of the necessary personnel to support the positions mentioned in the Court’s orders and thus make compliance possible. Defendant Southworth states that as Director of the [119]*119Department of Corrections his sphere of influence is restricted to mere recommendations of positions to be funded, that the ultimate authority is in the legislature, and that the failure of the state to follow his recommendations for funds has imposed strictures. The implication of this argument is that he is not to blame for the present inadequacies in the psychiatric and psychological programs of the YCC.

The force of the defendants’ economic plight may be one of the realities of life, but their leadership in this regard was less than enthusiastic. The record shows that only in fiscal year 1973 did defendants even attempt to include in the budget a position for psychologist. In addition it is admitted that from the present budget money can be used to hire the necessary staff, but defendants offer no evidence that this will be done.

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Bluebook (online)
76 F.R.D. 115, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14566, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/inmates-of-boys-training-school-v-southworth-rid-1977.