DYS News for You: July 2021 Edition

Department of Youth Services' Newsletter

| July 2021 Edition

COMMISSIONER'S CORNER

Greetings,

DYS and CHD recently suffered the loss of a staff member, James Hillman. He died in the course of an incident with a youth at the secure treatment program on Tinkham Road in Springfield. James was a well respected and liked member of the team at SRT. My thoughts are with James’ family. This incident is being investigated by the Hampden County DA’s Office and the Massachusetts State Police. We will wait for that investigation to run its course before we’re able to share details of the incident. I encourage anyone who has been affected by the loss of James to take advantage of the confidential support offered through Mass4You Employee Assistance Program. Safety is a top priority for me and for the Department and we will continue to do everything possible to keep staff and youth safe in all of our programs and operations.

I would like to recognize the overall response to this incident by the team (state and provider) in the Western Region. The maintenance staff and health services staff made heroic efforts to assist James prior to the arrival of the ambulances. Thank you.

I am continually reminded what an incredible staff we have here at DYS. Our residential and community staff, our youth’s role models, have remained committed to providing guidance, encouragement and support through education and teaching, sports/recreation, everyday interactions and making sure the youth’s basic needs are met. Over the last two months, our staff put together Juneteenth related activities and celebrations to teach our youth more about this special day in history, celebrated youth’s educational accomplishments, and participated in art projects with the youth.

The COVID 19 virus has been stubborn and challenging. Many of us, myself included, are fully vaccinated as part of our personal and professional safety strategy. I would encourage everyone who has not been vaccinated to consider it. I have been impressed by the resilience and effort by all staff over the last year and a half. You’ve remained focused on our core work, been innovative and met the challenges as they have presented themselves.

I hope you are able to enjoy the rest of the summer and appreciate your contribution to our work at the Department.

Sincerely,

Peter Forbes, Your Commissioner

DYS Youth and Staff Awarded 2021 PbS Education and Employment Foundation Scholarships

The Annie E. Casey Foundation donated $10,000 to go toward scholarships for youths and staff from PbS participating facilities and programs. The awards of $1,000 or $2,000 will be given to help offset the costs of university degrees, trade certificates or college credits and support efforts to further post-secondary education.

Performance-based Standards (PbS) received over 50 applications from youths and staff across the country - each application was fantastic, and their judges faced no easy task in choosing recipients. Two DYS youth in the Northeast and Southeast Regions and one staff in the Western Region are 3 of the 2021 recipients.

A student from Robert F. Kennedy School, MA, will prepare for a career in business at Bunker Hill Community College;

A student from Southeast Secure Treatment, MA, has plans to earn an associate degree in automotive engineering; and

Nina Smith-Jones, an Administrative Assistant at Center for Human Development Secure Residential Treatment, MA, is studying Human Services and Criminal Justice at Springfield College;

Congratulations All!!

Senator Adam Gomez and Representative Carol Doherty Visit DYS Programs

DYS’ Western Regional Director Ja’Net Smith and her team graciously hosted Senator Adam Gomez, his Legislative Aide Ali Reza-Reyes, Commissioner Forbes, Margaret Chow-Menzer, Cecely Reardon, Katy Laverriere, and EOHHS Undersecretary Katie Mick. We sat family style in the newly renovated cafeteria and ate lunch cooked by our very own DYS Youth and culinary staff....

Representative Carol Doherty, who represents the 3^rd Bristol District in Massachusetts and is a member of the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons’ with Disabilities, came out to visit the Southeast Region in June. Representative Doherty’s visit began with a roundtable discussion followed by a tour of the campus led by DYS Staff and Youth...

To read more about the Legislators, their visits, and to see pictures from please click here.

DYS Safety Task Force Report Summary

Providing a safe environment for youth and staff is and will always be a top priority for the Department of Youth Services.

In 2016, the DYS Safety Task Force, with representation from the State Senate, the State House of Representatives, Office of the Child Advocate, Executive Office of Health and Human Services and AFSMCE Local 1368, was established to make “recommendations for reducing injury to youth in the care and custody of DYS and reducing injury to DYS staff sustained as a result of incidents involving youth on staff assaults and the need by staff to intervene during client on client assaults.” Since the issuance of the 2018 DYS Task Force Report, DYS has accepted the recommendations of the Task Force and has made changes to policies, practices and programming to make “DYS programs safer to youth and staff without compromising the positive youth development and rehabilitation of the youth served in those settings.”

Examples of measures the Department has undertaken to address staffing concerns include: the rebranding and salary upgrades of the DYS direct care workforce to Juvenile Justice Youth Development Specialists (JJYDS) with specialized training to enhance their skills in supporting youth in the classrooms and clinical groups and their understanding of the impact of trauma and racial and ethnicity disparity on staff and youth at DYS; enhancing on-boarding and on the job training with emphasis on situational awareness; addressing stress, morale, and work life balance concerns by implementing the 4 - 10 hour days with 3 consecutive days off work week schedule in 3 programs with the 4^th in process; as well as actively supporting staff who wish to file criminal charges or initiate the incident response team process when assaulted by a youth.

There has also been significant work undertaken by the Department to clarify standards and expectations regarding investigations, incident reporting, 51A and 51B reporting, and the use of restraints and involuntary room confinement by modifying and finalizing advisories and policies as well as providing refresher trainings for field staff. DYS revised its restraint technique as part of the broader strategy to keep youth and staff safe. Other examples of actions taken by the Department to improve programming and behavior management include more family engagement opportunities; establishing the regional recreational coordinator positions; offering more outdoor recreational and educational activities and vocational and “Empower Your Future” opportunities; and, embedding DBT (Dialectic Behavioral Therapy) training and reinforcement of use by staff and youth in all aspects of the programs.

While much has been accomplished to date, the Department is committed to continually work on enhancing safety in our programs. Through the DYS Safety Committee, the DYS Policy Steering Committee, the DYS Workforce Planning and Development Committee, and on-going dialogue with field staff, senior managers, DYS service providers, and labor, the Department will continue to collect, review, and analyze risk data and will take appropriate action to respond to trends and patterns implicating safety in our programs.

Data Matters

The DYS Policy on Restraints and the Use of Force limits the use of restraints to situations where the youth presents as a danger to him/herself or others, and no other intervention has been or is likely to be effective in averting the danger.

Getting to Know our Communities' Heroes: DYS Caseworkers Interview with Katy Laverriere

At the Department of Youth Services, we have started to transition to a hybrid work model, which has made it possible to visit programs and meet our colleagues in person.

DYS Director of Communications, Katy Laverriere, had the opportunity to sit down, in-person, with Jorge “JJ” Matos in the Northeast Region’s Lawrence District Office. JJ has worked for the Department of Youth Services, in the Northeast Region, for about 15 years.

Click the image to read the interview.

Juneteenth Celebrations Throughout the Regions

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.

Last year, on July 24, 2020, Governor Charlie Baker signed legislation to recognize Juneteenth as an official state holiday in Massachusetts. Although this was not the first year Massachusetts recognized Juneteenth as an important day in history for Black Americans, this past June 19 was the first year it was celebrated as an official state holiday.

On Thursday June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden signed legislation establishing Juneteenth as the 12th federal holiday. It’s the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was created in 1983.

Juneteenth was celebrated throughout our five regions. All of the youth and staff celebrated in their unique ways but it all came back to educating individuals on the holiday and how and why it is celebrated.

Click on the image above to read more about the history of Juneteenth.

Click on the image above to learn what all five of our regions did to celebrate.

Be a Healthier You, Choose the Right Food & Drinks

Since 1980, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (the Guidelines) has been providing guidance of food and nutrition for the nation. The new edition, 2020 – 2025 Dietary Guidelines, has four approaches on building diet pattern with nutritious food and beverages. In the last three articles, we talked about three of the approaches individually. Today, we want to look at the fourth and final approach of the Guidelines.

Please click here for the full article written by DYS Dietician WaiLing Balsley.