Investigation finds Ware Youth Facility in Coushatta to be ‘safe and secure’

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – The Louisiana Office of the Inspector General released its findings on an investigation into misconduct allegations and failure to provide safety for youths housed in the Ware Detention Center in Coushatta.

At the conclusion of its investigation, requested by former Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, the OIG released a 37-page report detailing complaints about the center used to house youth offenders, corrective action taken by Ware leadership and staff, and the office’s final determination.

The report is broken into sections as follows: reporting critical incidents, critical incidents at Ware suicides at Ware, PREA (prison rape elimination act) reporting at Ware, and the OIG’s conclusion about the investigation.

Ware Youth Center is used to house young people arrested for delinquent acts, juveniles awaiting disposition by the court, those awaiting transfer to a Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice state facility, and youth detained by court order because they have bench warrants or have violated a court order.

The OIG ultimately found that many of the incidents at Ware were not widespread throughout the population being detained. Instead, many of the incidents were committed by the same small group of individuals. The same was found to be true of suicides and attempts at self-harm in the facility.

In the case of a 13-year-old boy cited in the OIG report who committed suicide by hanging, the Red River Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested two Ware employees, and they were charged with felony malfeasance in office and are set for trial on July 29, 2024.

Following that incident, the Department of Child and Family Services, the agency to which Ware reports critical incidents, found Ware to be deficient in areas including staffing requirements (room checked every 15 minutes), mental health assessment, clothing and bedding, sleeping area natural light, sleeping area protrusions/tie-off points, and sleeping area doors.

The report also notes that Ware leadership and staff submitted a corrective action plan to DCFS, which was implemented.

Some of the actions taken by Ware to correct the reported actions included moving bars from the inside of windows to the outside, discontinuing the use of holding cells, and adding Radio Frequency Identification readers to the room to ensure that staff room checks are completed every ten minutes. If checks are not completed within 12 minutes, two supervisors automatically receive text messages informing them of such.

Through its investigation, the OIG was able to access reports without juveniles’ names redacted to determine the number of incidents and the number of youth involved. The office also said they conducted nine visits to the center and, during each visit, “observed clean, safe and secure facilities with friendly and professional staff.”

It was concluded that the Ware Youth Detention Center in Coushatta is “presently a safe and secure environment suitable to house juveniles who have entered Louisiana’s Juvenile Justice System.”