Juvenile home chief holds line on firing
BY PAUL ROCK
May 20, 2008 | 7:22 AM
A Cook County juvenile detention center employee accused of using unnecessary force to restrain a resident won his appeal and has been ordered to return to work.
But center administrator Earl Dunlap won't let him come back.
The employee was fired in October after he violated the center's protocols for defusing unstable situations by forcing a resident to the ground, says center spokeswoman Jennifer Koehler.
After an investigation, Dunlap fired the employee, who then appealed with the Cook County Human Resources department.
The firing was overturned, in part because the incident did not meet the Department of Children and Family Services' standards for abuse, Koehler says.
Human resources, Koehler says, didn't find enough evidence to allow the firing.
But Dunlap, attempting to clean up the facility, refused to let the staff member return to work.
"Based on that incident, (Dunlap) doesn't feel he's a good person to be working with children," Koehler says.
Koehler says it is unclear what will happen next for the employee, who like most employees at the detention center is a Teamster.
"He was ordered to go back to work, but he doesn't have to work here," she says.
Three other employees have been fired since. One was dismissed for striking a juvenile in the face. Another was accused of driving 85 m.p.h. and talking on a cell phone while transporting 10 children to the detention center. Most recently, in March a woman was fired for making a false 911 call.
The first employee failed to overturn the firing on appeal; appeals are pending for the other two.
Dunlap, who took over the troubled facility in August, instituted a new policy for discipline against employees and children in an attempt to clean things up. In January, he hired two Chicago police officers to investigate complaints.
Fifty-two complaints have been investigated since then, ranging from petty theft to drug-dealing and abuse, says Brenda Welch, deputy transitional administrator.
Ninety-five percent of the complaints are against staff members, Welch says.
"The key factor in terminations is we have two excellent and highly skilled investigators," Koehler says. "Their work is critical to our ability to sustain discipline of employees in absence of technology."
Koehler says the facility needs more security cameras to document problems. In the latest county budget, approved in February, about $1 million was set aside to install more cameras at the facility.
American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois attorney Benjamin Wolf, who took the county to task over conditions at the center, says any improvement in disciplining employees is a good sign.
"Having good investigators sets the ball in motion. Without them, you can't have any progress," he says.
But center administrator Earl Dunlap won't let him come back.
The employee was fired in October after he violated the center's protocols for defusing unstable situations by forcing a resident to the ground, says center spokeswoman Jennifer Koehler.
After an investigation, Dunlap fired the employee, who then appealed with the Cook County Human Resources department.
The firing was overturned, in part because the incident did not meet the Department of Children and Family Services' standards for abuse, Koehler says.
Human resources, Koehler says, didn't find enough evidence to allow the firing.
But Dunlap, attempting to clean up the facility, refused to let the staff member return to work.
"Based on that incident, (Dunlap) doesn't feel he's a good person to be working with children," Koehler says.
Koehler says it is unclear what will happen next for the employee, who like most employees at the detention center is a Teamster.
"He was ordered to go back to work, but he doesn't have to work here," she says.
Three other employees have been fired since. One was dismissed for striking a juvenile in the face. Another was accused of driving 85 m.p.h. and talking on a cell phone while transporting 10 children to the detention center. Most recently, in March a woman was fired for making a false 911 call.
The first employee failed to overturn the firing on appeal; appeals are pending for the other two.
Dunlap, who took over the troubled facility in August, instituted a new policy for discipline against employees and children in an attempt to clean things up. In January, he hired two Chicago police officers to investigate complaints.
Fifty-two complaints have been investigated since then, ranging from petty theft to drug-dealing and abuse, says Brenda Welch, deputy transitional administrator.
Ninety-five percent of the complaints are against staff members, Welch says.
"The key factor in terminations is we have two excellent and highly skilled investigators," Koehler says. "Their work is critical to our ability to sustain discipline of employees in absence of technology."
Koehler says the facility needs more security cameras to document problems. In the latest county budget, approved in February, about $1 million was set aside to install more cameras at the facility.
American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois attorney Benjamin Wolf, who took the county to task over conditions at the center, says any improvement in disciplining employees is a good sign.
"Having good investigators sets the ball in motion. Without them, you can't have any progress," he says.
Tagged: Cook County, juvenile detention, Earl Dunlap
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