Department of Juvenile Justice

Djj Reax
News, Richland, State

Director of Dept. of Juvenile Justice and Governor McMaster react to the employee walkout Friday morning

Mike Olson,

Employees at the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice walked off the job this morning. Some teachers and security staff stood outside the facility, saying they’ve had enough with the long hours, pay and poor working conditions. DJJ Director Freddie Pough spoke with protesters for a little over an hour outside DJJ Friday afternoon. Gov. McMaster acknowledged their are issues in the department but said a walk out is not the way to go about achieving change.
State

SC Inspector General Praises DJJ for Response to Riots

ABC Columbia Staff

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – South Carolina’s inspector general says leaders at the Department of Juvenile Justice were slow to recognize problems that led to riots at its main prison but are taking decisive steps to regain control. Inspector General Patrick Maley told a joint committee of senators and House members Thursday that several smaller things combined to create bigger problems. He…
State

Juvenile Prisons Looking for 45 New Officers After Riot

ABC Columbia Staff

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) _ The director of South Carolina’s juvenile prison system says she’s trying to hire 45 new guards to counter a rise in violence and gang activity. Department of Juvenile Justice Director Sylvia Murray told a Senate committee investigating her agency Tuesday that the agency is reversing a policy of making the main juvenile prison in Columbia more…
State

Fate of School for Troubled Teens Rests with Legislature

ABC Columbia Staff

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – A public residential school that seeks to transform the lives of South Carolina’s troubled teens has lost its accreditation, leaving its fate to the Legislature. Lawmakers have long wanted to revamp John de la Howe School in rural McCormick County but couldn’t agree how. The state education agency’s decision this month to yank the school’s accreditation…