The fate of a St. Paul residential center for delinquent boys is in question after a stern warning by the Ramsey County judicial bench.
Second Judicial District judges have stopped referring juvenile defendants to Boys Totem Town while corrections officials address concerns and changes sought by the bench.
Ramsey County Chief Judge Teresa Warner sent a letter Feb. 25 to John Klavins, director of Ramsey County corrections, “to express our serious concern regarding serious incidents at Boys Totem Town,” including two escapes and criminal charges against a therapist accused of having a sexual relationship with a boy there.
“Mr. Klavins and I discussed a timeline and what we need from corrections in order to address this situation,” Warner said. “We’re not rushing this because we want to get it right. We, meaning the collective, those of us in the justice system.”
Judges have made no referrals to Boys Totem Town since Feb. 19, and the bench decided unanimously to stop all referrals “until we are confident that measures are in place to protect these young men and the public,” Warner’s letter said.
Just 17 young men are living at Boys Totem Town, Ramsey County Community Corrections spokesman Chris Crutchfield said Monday. Capacity is 35.
“We were under our capacity prior to any actions by the bench, but it certainly has been affected by the actions of the bench,” he said.
In addition to a criminal investigation into the contract therapist, an independent review is underway into the “circumstances, procedures, and actions that led to and contributed to the incident involving” her, according to a Thursday letter from Klavins to Warner.
The county corrections department, with the state Department of Corrections, is reviewing safety protocols at Totem Town, meeting with current and recently released residents and has hired an outside agency to conduct a clinical review of the its treatment programming, Klavins’ letter said.
The Ramsey County Board has also been made aware of what’s happening and “we obviously take this very, very seriously,” said Chair Victoria Reinhardt.
“We’re doing everything in our power to make sure that we get a full investigation, and if there’s anything that we need to do differently — and I’m sure that there is — we are going to take those precautions as well,” Reinhardt said Monday.
If the recommendations require more funding for Totem Town, the county board “will look at that, and I cannot imagine that we wouldn’t do it,” Reinhardt said.
Separate from what’s happening now, Ramsey County has been exploring with Hennepin County whether to merge Boys Totem Town with the Hennepin County Home School in Minnetonka. Both the Ramsey and Hennepin county boards agreed in August 2014 to study the feasibility of a joint residential treatment center. Discussions have been underway, but a decision hasn’t been made about what to do, Reinhardt said.
Warner’s letter cited three cases that concerned judges:
Atorney’s office this month charged Karen Anne Meyer, 30, with three felony counts of criminal sexual conduct by a therapist and person in a position of authority. Meyer helped two boys escape, including a 17-year-old boy with whom she had an inappropriate sexual relationship, according to charges.
— A young man was convicted in January of second-degree assault after he ran from Totem Town, stole a neighbor’s vehicle and tried to run over the neighbor.
— And a 15-year-old boy escaped from Totem Town in November 2014. A couple of hours later, police spotted a stolen car and tried to stop it. The boy, John McAfee III, was behind the wheel, fled from police and died in a crash on St. Paul’s West Side, police have said.
“(Klavins’) letter said what it needed to say and Corrections has responded,” Warner said Monday.
Any final decisions regarding the fate of the facility likely would fall to the county board, Warner said, but the bench asking for changes wasn’t an outlandish request.
“I wouldn’t say it’s common, but I wouldn’t say it’s uncommon,” she said. “We don’t run Corrections, obviously … but the bench has a good working relationship with Corrections. The director is very responsive to the court’s concerns, as is the county. But they have the same constituency as the court, and they have the same concerns.”
She added, “Maybe the judges acted one step faster (than the county), but the courts evaluated an issue that needed to be addressed and the county is addressing it.”