Ohio
Reports: Escalating violence, staff shortages continue to plague Ohio’s youth prisons
Ohio’s youth prisons continue to struggle with staffing. One in five jobs are vacant and large numbers of employees left last year, inspections found
Nearly a year after publication of an investigation into Ohio’s youth prisons, new inspection reports show escalating violence and chronic staff shortages continue to hinder the state’s ability to protect its employees and teens in the system.
The Correctional Institution Inspection Committee, a bipartisan group of lawmakers and its professional staff, released reports this month on Indian River Juvenile Correctional Facility in Massillon and Circleville JCF south of Columbus. In both reports, the committee said the Ohio Department of Youth Services failed to provide some of the requested data.
Special report: Ohio’s juvenile detention system struggles with violence, neglect
Here are the key takeaways from the reports:
- Hours kids spend locked in their rooms increased in 2024 over 2023.
- The rate of violent acts each week increased slightly at Circleville and jumped 31% at Indian River in 2024 over 2023.
- Staff are physically restraining youths at both prisons more often this year than last.
- Employee vacancy rates are high, 21.5% at Circleville and 22.2% at Indian River, including open positions and people on leave.
- Employee churn is high, 58.6% of workers left Circleville and 44.1% left Indian River in 2023.
- Gangs continue to exert influence with more than half of kids joining a gang.
Employees described low workplace morale, driven by mandatory overtime shifts every week and assaults by teens who throw bodily fluids − urine, feces and semen − on them. At Indian River, kids no longer have access to water bottles.
Incarcerated teens described frustration at being locked in their rooms with nothing to do. At Indian River the rate of children being locked in their rooms due to staffing issues increased 40% in 2024 over 2023. At Circleville the rate increased 77%.
An eight-month investigation by the Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch, Akron Beacon Journal, Canton Repository and other USA TODAY Network outlets published in November detailed how staff shortages, mandatory overtime and escalating violence plagued the youth criminal justice system.
The investigation is a finalist for the prestigious Scripps Howard Journalism Award for Local/Regional Investigative Reporting.
The investigation uncovered that employees and kids are injured − sometimes seriously − in fights and assaults that erupt without warning. Guards struggle to keep order and are often dealing with children they cannot control. Within three years of leaving a state youth prison, four in 10 teens are incarcerated again in either the juvenile or adult system. And those who don’t return to prison face a higher likelihood of dying an early death.
The youth prisons are operated by the Ohio Department of Youth Services, which reports to the governor, while most local juvenile detention centers are run by juvenile court judges.
Just days after publication of the newspapers’ investigation, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine launched a task force to examine the Department of Youth Services and the state’s juvenile justice system. The task force made 26 recommendations, including closing the youth prisons and replacing them with smaller, closer-to-home facilities.
Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
Ohio
How Return Of Star Offensive Guard Impacts Ohio State Versus Marshall
After a bye week which was considered more of an improvement week for the Ohio State Buckeyes, Ryan Day’s squad is set to face the Marshall Thundering Herd on Saturday.
Although the Buckeyes are heavy favorites in this game, Marshall should pose a tougher test than Akron and Western Michigan in the opening two weeks of the season. Marshall comes into this game with a record of 1-1 after a win over Stony Brook (45-3) and a loss to Virginia Tech (31-14). The Thundering Herd are also coming off a bye week in preparation for this game.
On Tuesday, Day confirmed that star left guard Donovan Jackson is “ready to roll” and will make his season debut in this matchup. During Jackson’s time out, Austin Siereveld filled in on the left side of the offensive line. Especially against Western Michigan, Siereveld played well and was an asset for the team.
Whether Siereveld comes in for Ohio State’s bison package with a sixth offensive lineman or he just gets reps at either guard spot, that is to be seen. That being said, will Donovan Jackson’s return make a major impact?
Yes and no. Jackson is an extraordinary talent and has the potential of being a first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Getting an experienced leader with his ability back is major for this team. It may not make much of an impact statistically this week, though.
Against the Broncos, the offensive line cleared tons of running room for the Buckeyes’ backfield. Ohio State ball carriers combined for 273 rushing yards and six touchdowns in that game, which will be tough to emulate.
The good news is that getting Jackson back this week allows him to regain chemistry next to Josh Simmons and Seth McLaughlin, while also getting back to game speed prior to the first road game of the season. Jackson and the rest of the offensive line will need to show up under the lights against Michigan State on September 28th.
Ohio
Ohio Woman Has 2 Liters of ‘Black and Bloody’ Vape Juice Removed from Lungs After Partner Finds Her Unconscious
An Ohio woman says her vape habit landed her in a medically induced coma after doctors had to suction two liters of “black and bloody” fluid from her damaged lungs.
Jordan Brielle, 32, had started smoking in her teens, but in 2021 switched to vaping — and was soon spending up to $500 a week to maintain the habit.
“I was fully addicted,” the Cincinnati woman told Kennedy News and Media, via The Daily Mail. “I was vaping so much that I slept with it, it went to the shower with me. I was vaping an excessive amount.”
She continued this level of vaping for two years until last November, when she said she felt a “heaviness” in her lungs that was first diagnosed as “a respiratory infection.”
“I kept going to the hospital with breathing problems,” the residential care assistant said. “I had a horrible cough and was going to the hospital two or three times a week for help.”
She told the outlet that “it felt like there were 80 lbs. of pressure just laying on my chest,” saying her body was swelling and her skin was turning gray.
However, she says, she still continued to use her vape — until a medical emergency changed her life.
Her partner found her unconscious, she says, with “black mucus coming out of my mouth and my nose.”
“He said I was gasping but couldn’t catch my breath. I was unresponsive and had a faint pulse.”
Brielle shared that her partner called 911 and tried to suction the mucus out of her nose and give her CPR while he waited for paramedics to arrive.
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“I don’t remember anything,” she says. “I was intubated immediately and taken to hospital.’
Brielle said her lungs were full of two liters of fluid, which doctors said was “vape juice” — the liquid the vaporizer converts to aerosol, which is then inhaled.
“My body was trying to force out the vape juice inside my lungs which was like concrete. It was pure black and bloody. At the hospital, they were sucking it out of me.”
Brielle was placed in a medically induced coma for 11 days, she says, sharing that she was told her lungs were damaged. She still lives with the possibility that they could collapse.
And, she adds, “I’ve been left with a minor brain injury due to lack of oxygen to my brain.”
Now, Brielle says, “I haven’t touched a vape since” the incident. She is sharing her story to warn others to avoid picking up the habit.
“I would say to anyone else quit any way you can. Do it for your health, your family, your life, your lungs — whatever motivates you, use that reason and stop. I wouldn’t wish what I’d been through on anyone else. I feel grateful to be alive.”
Ohio
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says Springfield bomb threats are ‘hoaxes’ coming from ‘overseas’
Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine revealed Monday that a recent spate of bomb threats targeting the town of Springfield have all been “hoaxes,” with some originating from “one particular country” overseas.
The 77-year-old governor told reporters Monday that law enforcement has responded to at least 33 separate bomb threats made against Springfield government offices, schools and medical centers since the town was thrust into the national spotlight over the influx of Haitian migrants.
“Thirty-three threats; Thirty-three hoaxes,” DeWine said during a press conference in Springfield. “I want to make that very, very clear. None of these had any validity at all.”
The governor indicated that the threats were being made by foreign actors.
“We have people unfortunately overseas who are taking these actions,” DeWine said. “Some of them are coming from one particular country.”
The governor declined to name the country, but Russia and Iran have both been accused by US officials of attempting to influence the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
“We think that this is one more opportunity to mess with the United States,” DeWine said of the foreign actors making the threats. “And they’re continuing to do that.”
“We cannot let the bad guys win. Our schools must remain open,” he added, noting that additional law enforcement resources will be deployed in Springfield amid the flurry of threats.
“The people who are doing this are doing this to sow discord in our community,” Andy Wilson, director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, said. “We just can’t let them do that. We can’t let them do that. We have to keep providing the services that the citizens of Springfield and Clark County expect.”
Former President Donald Trump declared during last week’s presidential debate that Haitian migrants in Springfield had been abducting and eating pets, comments many have attributed to jump in threats against the town.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” the Republican presidential nominee said, repeating unfounded claims circulating on social media.
Springfield city manager Bryan Heck has said there are “no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
The town canceled its upcoming annual celebration of diversity, arts and culture in response to the increase in threats, officials said Monday.
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