The brutal murder of a young Lockport group home employee is just one more indictment of the current juvenile justice policies of Gladys Carrion, commissioner of the Office of Children and Family Services.

The group home murder, the recent near riot and frequent AWOLs from Randolph House in Cattaraugus County and the shooting of a Rochester police officer are more than just unfortunate coincidences. At least one of the young men charged with the Lockport murder was discharged from a state-operated facility and placed in the privately operated community home. The youth charged with shooting a Rochester police officer was also placed in a private community residence by the OCFS.

Enough is enough, it is time to end the inappropriate placement of dangerous youth in our communities. The commissioner’s policy to place youth in unsecured placements needs to be balanced by a policy to protect the public

Carrion must be held responsible for the consequences of shutting down state-operated youth residences, and pushing criminal youths into our communities before they receive the services needed to properly prepare them for placement.

Kenneth Brynien

President, New York State Public Employees Federation