State officials tour Taberg Residential Center amid reports of staff injuries
Story Created:
Jan 25, 2012 at 2:21 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Jan 25, 2012 at 7:10 PM EDT
TABERG, N.Y. (WKTV) - Senator Joseph Griffo and Assemblywoman Claudia Tenney toured the Taberg Residential Center (also known as the Annsville Youth Camp) and spoke with residents and staff members on Wednesday.
Senator Griffo has been working closely with the New York State Office of Children and Family Services because 18 of the 33 employees at the residential center are out of work due to injuries from residents. Those injuries include two broken collar bones, a concussion, a broken ankle and a dislocated shoulder.
Griffo says he has worked closely with the New York State Office of Children and Family services over the past few weeks to improve conditions, and during his tour Wednesday, he noticed changes.
"From our perspective, it seems administration is sensitive to the needs here and the training and staff and there have been modifications made to ensure no one is being put in a position of harm," says Griffo.
OFCS released a statement to Newschannel 2 Wednesday stating they have hired twelve new staff members and increased employee training at the Taberg center in an effort to make the community safer for both residents and the staff members.
OFCS also highlighted the fact that the faciliyt recently transitioned from a boys to a girls center. Tenney believes this could be the source of some of the problems.
"The way you restrain a young girl versus the way you restrain a young boy. There is just a lot more issues just, like, there is differences between men and women," says Tenney. "This is definitely a change maybe for the employees but they are continuing to change and adapt to it."
Both Tenney and Griffo say they will continue to work with OCFS to monitor the situation at Taberg Residential Center closely.
