- Children were not informed about what conditions they apparently had. “I don’t remember if I got anything in writing about their decision but I don’t think I had an opportunity to challenge it … I took nine pills in the morning and seven in the evening. I don’t know what medications I was taking; no one ever told me that. I don’t know what my diagnosis or illness is.”
- Physical force was used to administer drugs. “I also saw staff throw another youth to the ground, pry his mouth open and force him to take the medicine … They told me that if I did not take the medicine I could not leave, that the only way I could get out of Shiloh was if I took the pills.”
- Staff members initiated tranquilizations. “When [a staff member at Shiloh] would call the medical staff, they would come and give me a shot to tranquilize me. It happened many times. They would give me the shot and then I would start to feel sleepy and heavy, and like I didn’t have any strength. I would sleep for three or four hours and then wake up and slowly start to feel my strength return. When the staff did that, they left me in the classroom near the wall to sleep.”
- Children were verbally abused by staff to provoke a response. “Some of the staff at Shiloh would provoke the children there and make us angry intentionally. They made us act violently so then we had to be given shots. The staff would call us names like ‘sons of a whore.’”
- Some were unable to walk normally. “They are requiring [my daughter] to take very powerful medications for anxiety. I have noted that [she] is becoming more nervous, fearful, and she trembles. [She] tells me that she has fallen several times … because the medications were too powerful and she couldn’t walk.”
- Some children experienced unhealthy weight gain, including one who said they put on nearly 100 pounds. “After taking the medication, I was more tired, I felt sad and my eyes got teary … I began to gain a lot of weight … In approximately 60 days, I gained 45 pounds.”
- Some were handcuffed for days on end. “At Shenandoah, my room had a mattress, a sink, and a toilet … I was forced to wear handcuffs on my wrists and shackles on my feet for approximately 10 days in a row.”
- Children were allowed outside for only one hour a day. “I am suffering a lot being in the Yolo Juvenile Detention Center. It is a jail and I sleep in a locked, small jail cell. I can’t leave here and have no freedom at all. We only get one hour of time outside each day. I have to live in a small cell with concrete walls.”
- Clothes were taken away. “Whenever I was put in restriction, they took away my mattress and blanket. They took my clothes away about 8 times.”
And these are just the children old enough to tell us.
deav0rs