Wisconsin panel sees progress, problems at Lincoln Hills youth prison – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The sweeping criminal probe is examining allegations of prisoner abuse, child neglect, sexual assault, intimidation of witnesses and victims, strangulation and tampering with public records.

Lincoln Hills School for Boys in Irma has been the subject of a federal investigation for more than two years.(Photo: Dan Young / Daily Herald Media)

MADISON - After doing a private tour of the state's troubled youth prison, a panel of lawmakers said Thursday they see both progress and lingering problems there.

The Assembly Committee on Correctionschairman, Rep. Michael Schraa (R-Oshkosh),denied a request from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to have a reporter accompany the visit after state attorneys said the law allowed that. In a statehouse meeting Thursday, Schraa recapped the visit, sayingthat lawmakers were able to get wide access to the facility and at times were able to talk to staff without having state Department ofCorrections officials hovering nearby.

"I really felt that we were getting the true story from these individuals becausewe were one on one with them," Schraa told lawmakers on the panel. "I was extremely and pleasantly surprised by what I saw up there."

The Journal Sentinel has reported extensively on problems at Lincoln Hills School for Boys, which has been under criminal investigation formore than two years for allegations of inmate abuse.

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The tour of the prisonabout 30 miles north of Wausauis a sign that Republicans who control the Legislature are becoming more interested in digging into theproblems there.

Schraa detailed the extensive questions that he put to prison staff and inmates about the conditions there. He asked about the schedules of the employees, the presence ofyouth gangs operating among the inmates, the mealsand what it felt like to wear cuff belts that inmates sometimes have onwhile being moved.

Schraa said he was willing to work with Democrats on recommendations for improving the prison, such as greater training for staff, and he also told Democrats that he was also willing to take unannounced visits to the prison with them in the future.

Both Schraa andRep. EvanGoyke (D-Milwaukee) described a daytime conversation with a staff member who had worked through the night and who cried when describing the way staff often had to work forced overtime in16-hour shifts to fill vacant posts.

Schraa said he believed staff morale was largely good. But Goyke said their conversation showed that more needed to be done, particularly on the forced overtime.

"When we put people in that situation, the tensions flare, it would happen to anyone," Goyke said.

Schraa and Corrections spokesman Tristan Cook separately pointed out positive changes at the prison, including the use of body cameras, pay raises for the staff, new rules for using pepper spray and improved procedures for inmates who want to report an allegation of abuse.

"We are continuing to move forward on additional changes to minimize the use of (pepper spray), confinement, and restraints while maintaining safety and security for youth and staff," Cook said in an email. "DOC is also making additional changes to further enrich opportunities for youth to access quality education, treatment, and programming that will give them tools to be successful in the community."

RELATED:Wisconsin gives cash to Lincoln Hills guards fired for excessive force RELATED:Teen who received $300,000 settlement in Lincoln Hills abuse case charged with new offenses

Lincoln Hillshas often been criticized for being a four-hour drive from offenders' homes in urban areas like Milwaukee, but Schraa said he saw some benefit to the setting.

"Being in a rural setting I feel like you get an individual out of the environment where they broke the law," Schraa said.

Rep. David Bowen (D-Milwaukee) said he disagreed. He noted that the northern Wisconsin facility has just one African-American staff member, even though the majority of its inmates are minorities. He and Goyke have argued for keeping offenders closer to southeastern Wisconsin in smaller facilities, an approach modeled after the one used by Missouri.

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Wisconsin panel sees progress, problems at Lincoln Hills youth prison - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel