Long Creek Youth Development Center
Board of Visitors
Annual Report ‘16
The Board of Visitors, (BOV) for Long Creek Youth Development Center (LCYDC), is
charged with ongoing review of policy and practice, and management goals. In this
report, we have found it imperative to highlight the current state of the mental
health needs of residents, particularly acute care needs. LCYDC strives for and
delivers excellent risk reduction, educational and vocational programming for youth
in their care, however, this year has proven challenging and ultimately tragic.
Last Spring, concerns were raised regarding several youth being placed at LCYDC,
with a high level of acute mental health care needs, that require alternative mental
health/medical treatment facilities. Not only did this trend continue, it has had
tragic consequences.
In late October of 2016, a youth in the detained unit hung themselves in their room
despite constant observation and watch. Sadly, this youth passed away from these
injuries. Shortly thereafter, another youth resident attempted to strangle her self
and required critical hospitalization. To date, several youth continue to self-harm,
have made attempts or threats to strangulate themselves, and require unsustainable
levels of constant observation.
These vulnerable acute level youth residents, are merely being managed for safety
and not specifically treated for their acute level needs. They do not receive the depth
of mental health interventions and medical treatment that they require, potentially
causing a further increase of psychological risks. LCYDC is doing the best they can
with the tools they have, but they are being asked to do things they are not trained
for and/or in the scope of their programming. Current safety management practice
of youth in acute crisis consists of:
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Removal of clothing for safety and use of a smock cover-up.
Use of correction restraints- such as mechanical restraints to keep
them safe.
Daily ongoing mental health assessments to determine the amount of
constant one-on-one observation and supervision.
Co-mingling with non-acute care youth residents, which can be
traumatizing, triggering and at the least, destabilizing for other
residential youth seeking to engage in their own treatment program.

Youth residents at LCYDC work hard to engage in their individualized therapeutic,
educational and risk reduction programming in an effort to change the course their

 lives have taken. For these residents, co-mingling with youth in acute crisis can be
traumatic, decrease their ability to feel safe, and minimize their efforts to effectively
receive treatment.
The impact of this high level acute care need on staff is also significant. These
dedicated and talented staff at LCYDC, are not trained or equipped to treat such
acute mental health care needs, and they also may be experiencing the secondary
trauma associated with such high level of crisis. Staff currently monitor, watch, and
observe these youth at an unsustainable rate just to keep them safe. Again, staff only
observes and monitors these youth in crisis, the specific acute mental health
treatment for these youth is unchanged.
Such high level of acute care can contribute to staff turnover, burnout, or the
inability of staff to build positive relationships with all youth residents. These
relationships are essential to the successful risk reduction programming for all
youth residents.
Recommendations:
The alarming trend of placing and maintaining youth in acute mental health crisis at
LCYDC must be immediately examined and remedied. LCYDC is not medically
equipped to deal with the delicate needs of these vulnerable youth. Simply put,
LCYDC is not an acute care mental health facility. The following review and actions
are recommended:
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Youth in acute crisis must be immediately placed in an appropriate
therapeutic facility to receive intensive mental health evaluations and acute
care treatment.
Youth in acute crisis should not co-mingle with the general population of
youth residents, to maintain their own dignity while receiving treatment, and
to maintain safety for all youth residents at LCYDC.
A multi disciplinary review of acute care therapeutic options in Maine, and
barriers to access and/or maintaining placement.
A multi disciplinary review of the amount of youth in need of acute care
services being placed out of the State of Maine.

These tragic events have also shed a light on the current practice of placing youth in
detention, often, for undetermined amounts of time while waiting for sentencing
and available therapeutic placement options. Additionally, youth arrive to LCYDC
from residential placements. These practices must be reviewed:
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Youth placed in “detention” are they able to receive and/or are they receiving
the right types of assessments and services?
Multi disciplined external review of available/or lack of therapeutic level
placement/programming options in Maine.

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External review of the barriers to access/maintain placement in available
treatment settings.

Staffing Levels and Rehabilitative Programming:
LCYDC is a constant balance of maintaining safety, while also reducing risk through
educational and rehabilitative programming. When educational, security and/or
mental health staff are cut; it compromises the ability for these staff to form
positive, therapeutic relationships with the kids. First, these are not just any staff.
They are gifted, and talented in their ability to simultaneously maintain safety in the
facility while also crafting powerful relationships with youth residents. It’s these
relationships that pave the way for therapeutic interventions to happen. This is the
magic formulaConnections build empathy. Young people engage in criminal activity when they
don’t have a mind of empathy. When youth are in distress, or live in dysfunction,
shutting off empathy is their coping skill. Change happens when they build positive
relationships. These relationships are the magic.
Lastly, we are very concerned about the proposed budget cuts to the
education/teaching staff. Several key staff already left over the last six months. In
addition to the high school curriculum, the teachers are supporting accreditation,
college level courses, innovative programs- such as the highly effective culinary
program, athletics, Career Center and the new, needed Small Engine Repair
program.
These programs are essential to risk reduction and a youth’s successful transition
back to their community. We must work to preserve the potential of these youth!
Any cuts to the A.R. Gould School program must be met with an extensive and
careful review in order to maintain accreditation, these highly innovative and
successful programs, and the high quality staff and teachers needed to run them.
In LCYDC, young people learn new ways to cope, build upon education and
vocational success and create pathways for a positive reintegration into their
communities. These programs decrease the probability youth will return to the
criminal justice system, or any other system. If we lose the ability to reduce the risk
for these youth, they will be back. If we lose the ability to do the bare minimum, it
can be deadly. There is no room for error.
Tonya C. DiMillo
Chair, BOV, LCYDC