REPORTS: VIOLENCE, DRUGS IN JUVENILE CENTERS

COLUMBIA - Juvenile detention center staff reports allege drugs, alcohol
and violence plague the state's facilities, while an official said the
agency is working on the problems. Documents from the Juvenile Justice
Department include allegations of fights breaking out in darkened rooms and
reports of juveniles obtaining drugs not prescribed to them by answering
other's names during calls for medication, The Greenville News reported
Wednesday.

The report includes allegations that weapons, such as knives and
box-cutters, were accessible.

And a guardian ad litem reported to U.S. District Judge Joseph Anderson Jr.
that she received reports of the availability of cigarettes and illegal drugs.

"We received consistent reports of the availability of cigarettes,
lighters, money, occasionally marijuana and cocaine," Nancy McCormick
wrote. "Staff apparently are aware of contraband and are reported to be
participating in providing it."

Some employees have criminal records, but that doesn't necessarily
disqualify them from working at the facilities, said Jerry Adger, who - as
inspector general of Juvenile Justice - is in charge of investigating the
allegations.

Federal court has monitored the agency since 1995 as part of a settlement
of a lawsuit filed by six juveniles in 1990 that alleged overcrowding,
inadequate medical care and physical abuse.

Anderson is considering whether federal oversight of the $74 million-a-year
agency should continue.

Adger said he thinks the agency is in control of the facilities that house
more than 600 juveniles. However, he said the agency could do more,
including drug tests for employees and drug-sniffing dogs.

The facilities also need more surveillance cameras, but funding for such
improvements has not been approved by the Legislature, Adger said.

Officers in two of the state's five detention centers alleged that
juveniles attacked them 32 times, according to reports from 1999 through
last April.

The newspaper reported last month that the state paid more than $1 million
in the past two years to settle nine claims and lawsuits alleging that
juveniles as young as 10 had been sexually assaulted by other juveniles
while in state facilities.

Terrell Washington, an 18-year-old who spent two years in a juvenile
detention facility, said juveniles had access to cigarettes, marijuana and
alcohol while he was there. He blamed the contraband on visits from outsiders.

Adger agreed that visitation brings problems. The agency's rules now allow
visitors to bring in food that isn't checked by guards. He said the agency
should tighten those rules.

"It's easy right now," he said. "It's almost impossible to completely
control, given the way we allow it to happen."

He said some juveniles are searched when officials have probable cause, but
Adger said he's not sure facility officials could legally search all juveniles.