Employees of the Department of Children and Families gathered to sound the alarm about worker injuries and understaffing at the state’s psychiatric facility for children age 13 to 17 in Middletown, Connecticut.
Safety Concerns and Understaffing
SEIU 1199 union leadership said 66 of the roughly 300 workers at the Solnit South facility are not currently working while they recover from injuries tied to workers’ compensation claims. Workers argued many injuries were “preventable” and the result of a lack of resources, funding, and appropriate staffing at the facility.
“Solnit was once recognized as one of the premier public children’s psychiatric programs in the country. It can and must be again,” said Becky Simonsen, vice president of SEIU 1199. “We have the dedicated workforce. We have the clinical expertise. So what’s missing? Investment. Resources.”
Erin Burns, a Solnit South employee, described multiple assaults she experienced there, including one that resulted in a concussion. She said all workers understand there is some risk to working in the facility but added that, “what I cannot accept is preventable danger and harm caused by ineptitude.”
A union representative said some workers have been hit in the head with objects or hurt with makeshift weapons, while others got hurt while breaking up fights between patients. Less severe injuries often occur at the facility and don’t rise to the level of workers’ compensation, according to the union.
Response from Officials
DCF has struggled to recruit and retain staff across the agency. Simonsen said the children at Solnit have serious psychiatric needs and have often survived profound abuse and trauma. In some cases, the kids have been turned away by other providers due to the complex nature of their needs.
UConn Health recently took over the facility, but Darnell Ford, the children’s services unit supervisor, said that there hasn’t yet been a noticeable change in funding or management — just the facility’s signage.
Meeting the needs of the children in the facility depends on support from lawmakers “to actually have the true investment that has been awaited for far too long,” Ford said.
Original reporting: The Connecticut Mirror — read the source article.
