Lincoln Hills School (Photo: WI DOC)
State lawmakers visited the state’s troubled youth correctional facility this week. State Representative Mandela Barnes (D-Milwaukee) believes the documented abuses at Lincoln Hills are largely a result of increased staff pressures, in the wake of Act 10.
“The number of people who have retired has skyrocketed, the number of people who have resigned has skyrocketed, the level of turnover has skyrocketed.” said Barnes, who visited Lincoln Hills with state Representative Evan Goyke (D-Milwaukee). “If this continues, what we’ve seen in the news will not be the most chaotic instance. This will only continue and get worse.”
Also this week, House Democrat Gwen Moore of Milwaukee has asked the FBI to keep her informed about the ongoing state and federal probe into alleged abuses of juvenile offenders at Lincoln Hills. Moore said she’s especially bothered by the state’s finding that a staffer slammed a youngster into his room November 29th, causing the boy’s toes to be amputated after they got shoved under a door.
Representative Barnes also suggested that Wisconsin’s Department of Corrections could benefit from taking a look at how Missouri handles youth corrections. “It’s a way that they do juvenile justice, which includes smaller, more geographically scattered facilities for youth offenders across the state.”