COLUMBIA, S.C. — A recent audit of the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) said there has been increased violence, job turnover, questions about the use of funds and other problems happening behind the fence at the agency that houses juvenile inmates, and state lawmakers are concerned.
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On Thursday, lawmakers questioned the head of DJJ, face-to-face.
DJJ Director Freddie Pough answered questions about the latest audit findings. While the hearing, which lasted about three hours, was filled with back and forth, some lawmakers said they still feel their questions weren’t answered by the director, and some no longer want him to run the agency.
Pough started by saying he wanted to provide more context to the report and said he knows there are issues with the agency.
"I don’t for one moment want to come in here today to leave you under the impression that there aren’t problems at DJJ," Pough said. "That is not my intention, but my intention today is to acknowledge there are problems and to put the pieces in place to fix these problems."
Pough and lawmakers agreed that security and staffing are the root of many of the reported issues in the audit.
But there were several times the director didn’t have answers. Pough took over the agency in 2017.
“I’ve been the director for three years. In those three years, we made great progress," Pough said. "A lot of our issues are framed in shortages of staff, and I get that, and I would appreciate any and all help to increase staff ratio.”
After the three hours of questioning, Senator Katrina Shealy (Lexington, District 23, R) said she doesn’t feel questions were answered.
“I think the state of the agency is disastrous. I am very upset about what’s going on out there," Shealy said. "I feel like children and staff member are not safe, I felt that way for a while. The problems start at the top. The way to fix a problem is from the top down, and that’s what I think we’ll have to do.”
The director did not take any additional questions after the hearing, but as far as next steps go, Shealy said she will reach out to the Governor’s Office and plan a sit down to discuss the hearing, as well as the audit findings.
Shealy said Governor Henry McMaster would be the one to make the decision on if Pough stays or goes.
News 19 reached out to the Governor's Office about the hearing and the audit of DJJ. Governor McMaster's Communication Director Brian Symmes sent the following statement:
"Our criminal justice system, including DJJ, must make improvements to their training, policies and procedures. Director Pough has a tough job leading an agency that has a long history of struggling with the difficult task of incarcerating and rehabilitating juveniles in trouble with the law. Governor McMaster will continue to work with the General Assembly to improve the agency, and more importantly, to keep juveniles from ending up at DJJ in the first place."