By Colbert I. King
Saturday, December 1, 2007
A bare-bones Washington love story: She met him on the job. They fell in love, got married and set up housekeeping.
Now let's put some meat on those bones.
She's a correctional officer at the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services' Oak Hill center, which holds juvenile offenders in secure detention. He's a runaway youth under DYRS supervision.
Their relationship began when he was 16. Nuptials were performed in August. He's 18 and living with her.
The foregoing came via a whistle-blower who feared that the public relations-conscious agency would sweep word of this improper relationship under the rug.
In response to my inquiries, acting DYRS public information officer Reggie Sanders said via e-mail on Wednesday: "There has been an allegation regarding improper conduct by one of our staff. We launched an investigation into that allegation and placed the staff member in question on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. During this time, the young person was transferred to a different facility. Due to personnel and juvenile confidentiality laws, we cannot give or confirm the names of any individual alleged to be involved."
Follow-up e-mails to Sanders drew references to confidentiality rules and this warning: "Whoever is providing you with this information is violating the law by doing so."
Still, what does it mean to be placed under DYRS supervision?
That's not asked lightly.
Two miles north of the White House, a war is going on.
Violence between gangs has left 11 youths or young adults wounded in Ward 1 since Oct. 1, according to D.C. Council member Jim Graham, who represents the area.
Graham has been sounding the alarm. It was finally heard by Mayor Adrian Fenty, who on Thursday announced additional community policing resources for Ward 1.
Asked about gang members' involvement in the juvenile justice system, Graham told me that of 14 gang-related incidents in Ward 1 since June, "seven of the principal persons involved, either as victims or aggressors, are known to be in the juvenile justice system." He also said that "at least one-third of all young people" involved in recent gang-related violent incidents have had contact with the juvenile justice system.
Graham cited this example of a 15-year-old male resident of Ward 1:
He was charged with two carjackings and with stealing guns from an FBI car. While under DYRS supervision, the teenager carjacked a third car, which he later drove to court. After he left court, police identified the car as stolen and arrested him. He's facing seven years on juvenile and adult charges in the District and potentially 40 years for charges in Prince George's County.
What does DYRS supervision mean?
The system is not supposed to work that way, at least to hear D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray tell it.
He said the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services was placed under the jurisdiction of the Human Services Committee, chaired by council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), to "emphasize the intended focus on rehabilitation within a human-services context rather than corrections, which dominates adult public safety approaches."
Gray said he hoped "that this would provide young people with an opportunity to constructively address and resolve the psychodynamics that led them into difficulty in the first place."
Ah, yes.
In a telephone interview yesterday with Wells, I asked whether he knew about the alleged improper DYRS staff-detainee relationship.
Wells said that he received "a heads-up from Vinnie Schiraldi," the DYRS chief, on Thursday because the department thought the story might be published. "And [it was] only because you got it that I got it," Wells said.
Wells said Schiraldi told him that the youth had been assigned to an independent-living arrangement in Baltimore and that the officer had visited him there. Schiraldi confirmed that the two were married and said that three days after the wedding, the officer filed a domestic violence complaint against her husband. Wells said that he was told the officer had been fired.
From a D.C. government source: The youth ran away from Dupree House. On Sept. 24, a Superior Court judge signed a custody order (warrant) for his arrest. Prior custody orders had been issued in August.
The officer is still on paid leave.
Since the week ending Oct. 26, more than 230 juveniles have been arrested in the nation's capital.
I also asked Wells whether he knew how many of these 230 juveniles are under DYRS or court supervision? He said he did not know.
Wells will hold oversight hearings on the department on Tuesday. A word of advice on DYRS testimony: Don't forget Ronald Reagan's slogan on dealing with the Soviet Union -- trust, but verify.
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