Legislative Delegation Hears About Child Abuse in Alachua County Juvenile Detention Center
At the Alachua County legislative delegation meeting last week, state representatives and senators heard about child abuse in the Alachua County Juvenile Detention Center (JDC).
Angela Casteel, a mother whose autistic son is housed in the JDC, said the facility is not equipped to handle mental health problems and that guards are actively abusing autistic children in the facility.
Casteel said, “My son was told he was lying about his autism. He was denied medical care while vomiting, dizzy, and falling over.”
Casteel said another autistic child asked a guard to not slam a door because he was overstimulated, and the officer responded by slamming the door three times, triggering a meltdown that led the child to be confined.
Casteel said a JDC guard injured another child after taking them down. “Two black eyes, a busted lip, bruises and a possible torn ACL,” Casteel described. “The same child has been mocked and laughed at by guards. His mother has filed a complaint with Tallahassee and, as of today, filed with DCF and the Sheriff’s Department.”
“These aren’t isolated incidents,” Casteel said. “They’re proof that staff are either untrained or unwilling to support children with special needs, and that is unacceptable.”
Police reports show that two former JDC employees and the former head of the facility have been arrested for abusing and neglecting child inmates.
Casteel said, “I am asking this delegation to take action. We need legislation that requires specialized staff training, establishes minimum staffing ratios, mandates evidence-based programming and enforces real accountability.”
Casteel addresses the delegates (Florida Channel)
Yesterday, Casteel told GnvInfo that there are internal and external investigations into the JDC and added that the guard who severely beat the child inmate "for sure can have no contact with the kids." She said that she’s heard state reps are looking into the incidents.
The JDC website claims the facility “provides supervision of youth in a safe, secure and humane environment.”
The JDC website says that youth services include “education, mental health, substance abuse, and health care. Medical and mental health are contracted services. Educational services are funded by the Department of Education through local school districts.”
The website says that a “typical day in secure detention would involve hygiene, meals, school, structured physical and educational activities, and court appearance as scheduled. The average length of stay in secure detention is approximately 11 days.”
The JDC is located in Northeast Gainesville and is a state controlled facility that serves the counties of Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Suwannee and Union.
