Workers at the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland say inadequate staffing is creating serious safety problems at the facility. They're making their concerns public because they say the Department of Corrections has not taken action to remedy the situation.
In early February, workers represented by the Maine Service Employees Association wrote a letter to the DOC saying the lack of staffing has led to riots at the facility and that residents and staff are persistently placed in harms way. They made 13 recommendations to address the problems. They called for bolstering staffing levels, creating work schedules that don't rely on 12-hour shifts and restoration of positions that have been cut over the years. Since then, they say nothing has changed.
On average, 28 young people were held at Long Creek each day last year. That's about half the number from just a few years ago. But as of Dec. 1 there were 30 vacancies for juvenile program workers at Long Creek.
Last month, DOC Commissioner Randall Liberty said the department was working hard to recruit additional people, but he said the positions are challenging to fill because of the difficult work environment and forced overtime.
