At least two families have come forward with allegations of misconduct by staff at a facility for juveniles in state custody in Milford.
The facility is one of two "residential alternatives to detention" — meaning facilities less secure than Delaware's juvenile detention centers — operated by VisionQuest, a family services provider than contracts with Delaware's Division. VisionQuest operates the second Newark, but complaints are isolated to the Milford location.
One of the complainants — a 16-year-old from Wilmington who spoke with Delaware Public Media — described being groped by an older staff member during basketball practice; he also claimed that a staff member used a box cutter to intimidate children in custody and that a supervisor drank while on duty and drove erratically while transporting children.
"I didn't know who to tell when it happened," he said.
Instead, the 16-year-old absconded from the facility in May, disappearing for roughly a week and sleeping in parked cars and abandoned houses.
"I ran for my safety," he told Delaware Public Media. "It might not have been the right thing, but I needed to go."
His mother, Takia Johnson, raised objections to the Milford Police Department's decision not to issue a missing person report after his escape.
“The entire time, all they kept saying was, ‘there’s a warrant," she said. "There was never anything else, and I kept asking them, ‘what is going on - have you heard anything? What about the police? Who is looking for my son on your part?”
According to the Milford Police Department, it is standard procedure to issue a warrant — rather than a missing person report — when a person escapes court-ordered custody.
Law enforcement apprehended him in New Castle, placing him in custody at the New Castle County Detention Center outside Wilmington; because of his escape, he is no longer eligible for a residential alternative to detention.
The 16-year-old reported the alleged abuse after his re-arrest; another family whose son has since been released has raised similar allegations, centering specifically on the claim that a staff member inappropriately touched children in his care.
While the Division of Youth Rehabilitative Services could not comment on the specific cases, Division Director Renee Ciconte says the state can independently investigate misconduct allegations at contract facilities.
“When a youth in YRS custody is put in a state or contract facility and alleges abuse, the allegations are referred to the Institutional Abuse Unit," she said. "The Institutional Abuse Unit conducts an initial review and determines whether the complaint meets criteria for a full institutional abuse investigation.”
The Institutional Abuse Unit can investigate claims of physical injury, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect; cases outside of its jurisdiction can be investigated by local law enforcement or facility management.
Delaware Public Media has reached out to VisionQuest for comment.
