Wisconsin Democrats who tour Lincoln Hills say more guards are needed

MADISON – A pair of Democratic lawmakers who toured the state’s troubled juvenile prison this week said problems won't be fixed until Gov. Scott Walker's administration deals with a staffing crisis there.

“We have public servants trying their hardest to bring some stability back to the facility, but it’s very clear they’re set up to fail,” Rep. David Bowen (D-Milwaukee) said.

Bowen and Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) on Monday toured Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls, which share a campus north of Wausau. The prison complex is the subject of multiple lawsuits and a criminal investigation into inmate abuse and child neglect.

Sixty-seven of 313 jobs — including 21 that were only recently created — are unfilled at the facility and 26 prison employees can’t work because they are on leave for injuries or other reasons. In all, there are no employees available for 93 jobs, which means those shifts have to be covered using overtime.

Bowen and Hintz said staff told them they routinely have to work four to six 16-hour shifts during every two-week pay period. That’s contributing to staff burnout and could endanger their safety, they said.

“They’re going to get fried” when they work that much, Bowen said. “They’re going to get crabby. They’re going to not get the break and recharge they need.”

Hintz said the state needs to boost the $16-an-hour starting pay for guards at Lincoln Hills.

“They have to raise pay. It’s a market situation,” Hintz said. “As one guy said to me, ‘You can make $16 an hour at Kwik Trip without getting (feces) thrown at you.’ ”

Guards receive raises that bring their pay to about $16.50 after six months, about $17 after a year, about $17.50 after 18 months and about $18 after 24 months. They make one and a half times their regular pay for overtime.

Staff shortages are an issue at prisons in Wisconsin and across the nation. Department of Corrections spokesman Tristan Cook acknowledged workers are sometimes forced to work overtime shifts, but said they sometimes volunteer to do so.

Cook said 21 of the jobs are vacant because they were only recently created and the state hasn’t had time to fill them. 

“DOC places a high priority on filling all vacant and newly created positions,” Cook said in a statement. “DOC staff are working tirelessly to recruit and hire staff to fill all open positions.”

The two Democratic lawmakers said they did not believe any significant reforms could be made at Lincoln Hills until prison officials get a handle on staffing.

“It’s still a powder keg,” Bowen said. “You have youth that don’t feel safe. You have staff that don’t feel safe.”

Some workers have said they are afraid to go to work, particularly since a federal judge in July ordered the state to reduce the use of pepper spray and solitary confinement. Attorneys for inmates who brought that lawsuit say any problems are the fault of Walker's administration for how it runs the prison complex.

Monday's tour was Bowen's third trip to Lincoln Hills and Hintz's first. 

Walker has not visited Lincoln Hills and has said he will not go there before he stands for re-election next year. The GOP governor has said he has faith in the people he has put in charge of running the prison.