Tyron Residential Center – An Example of Failure in Reform

Recorded as one of the elementary secondary schools industries in Johnstown in New York, Tyron Residential Center is currently nonfunctional. When in 2010, Andrew Cuomo toured the Tryon Youth Prison he found it to be one of the textbook cases of dysfunction.

Emptied Out Juvenile Detention Center

Tyron Residential Center was opened in the year 1960 for boys and the objectives were –
Implementation of corrections process of rebuilding the lives of those youngsters who have taken the wrong turn in their life.
It was supposed to be the reformation center for such people.
However, over the years the prison developed into an increasingly brutal as well as prison-like institution.
Pick of the events leading to such feelings was the death of 15 year old Darryl Thompson of Bronx who died after being pinned by staffers on a bathroom floor, face down that suffocated him.

Repercussions of the Incident

Despite chalking up the death of Darryl as a result of undiagnosed heart ailment, the U.S Justice Department conducted a follow up probe. It was revealed that Darryl was violently manhandled and he was not the only case in the juvenile detention center. In fact such violent manhandling is practically an everyday occurrence in not only Tyron but in many other juvenile prisons in New York’s youth jails system.

Failures on Multiple Fronts

It was found that the detention center failed to provide the basic facilities on multiple fronts.
For instance the office of Children and the Family Services operating the facilities failed to offer the basics.
Absence of decent mental health care for the children and teenagers in the age group of 12-18 was most conspicuous in the entire process.
The very agency of the state that was entrusted with the responsibility of protecting children from abuse and neglect was guilty of both the crimes resulting in fundamental breakdown of the administration of the detention center.

Authorities however are quite conscious about their duties and responsibilities and have been coming up with a series of reformative measures before the emptied detention center can be used for the purpose of reformation and rehabilitation of youth all over again.