COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice (SCDJJ) says it will reform its beleaguered central prison at the Broad River Road Complex (BRRC) in Columbia for youths through a federal agreement.
The settlement agreement announced Thursday, April 14, 2022, follows a 2017 report from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that found state officials were violating the rights of incarcerated youths at BRRC. State officials say they will now ensure facilities are properly staffed, offer rehabilitative programming and revise use-of-force policies, among other measures.
According to SCDJJ, the department has hired national consultants, completed an agency-wide overhaul of the security camera system, made preparations for the additional requirements in the Inspector General's Office, and finalized plans to retrofit existing dorms in order to cease using the current isolation building at BRRC.
Federal investigators say the agency has failed to protect youths from fights and forced them to spend days or weeks in isolation for small offenses. The DOJ says agency employees have also harmed children by using excessive force such as choking, punching and kicking.
In a statement, SCDJJ interim director Eden Hendrick said, “The SCDJJ is at a pivotal point in its history. We are optimistic and determined to use this Settlement Agreement as an opportunity to institute sweeping reforms that will positively impact youth, their families, our staff, and the state of South Carolina.”
Hendrick, who took over last fall after then-director Freddie Pough's resignation, has outlined to lawmakers her planned overhaul of the agency. She has restructured agency’s leadership, modernized facilities, instituted sign-on and retention bonuses at the agency to try to fill correctional officer vacancies and asked lawmakers for funding to move mentally ill youth out of detention facilities they are illegally housed at, she said earlier this year.
Pough stepped down following a scathing state audit, a no-confidence vote by state senators and a walkout by correctional officers at the Broad River Road Complex.
Last year's state audit found a number of issues, from an increase in violence at agency facilities to students missing GED testing because they were locked up in isolation units. Staffing and transportation shortages also meant some youths were not receiving adequate and timely medical care.