Connecticut Juvenile Training School

The Connecticut Juvenile Training School (CJTS) was a juvenile detention center in Middletown, Connecticut that operated from 2003 to 2018. It was operated by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families.

CJTS was a treatment facility dedicated to delinquent boys from age 12-17.[1] The CTJS facility had room for 240 inmates.[2]

It was in proximity to the Connecticut Valley Hospital.[3]

History

The state of Connecticut chose to build CTJS on land it already owned. Construction began in 1999.[3] CTJS opened in August 2001,[4] at a cost of $57 million.[5] Built by the Tomasso Construction Company,[2] its facility was described by Scott Poitras of the Hartford Courant as a "sprawling prison-like campus".[6] The State of Connecticut modeled the facility after the Marion Juvenile Correctional Center in Marion, Ohio.[7]

It was intended as a replacement for the Long Lane School, which was Connecticut's main correctional institution for youth. A suicide at Long Lane in 1998 prompted the state to speed up planning for a new correctional facility. The plan to offer contemporary rehabilitation programming for inmates.[6]

In 2002 Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and child advocate Jeanne Milstein criticized the school, saying that its operations are unsatisfactory.[6]

In 2003 it took delinquent boys previously held at Long Lane, which had closed that year.[8]

There have been numerous controversies and scandals associated with CJTS and Long Lane School, between 1998-2005.[9] In 2005, Governor Jodi Rell attempted to close the facility,[2] but in 2008 she canceled her plans to close it.[10]

In 2005 it had 80 prisoners.[5] At one time it had 147 prisoners.[11]

Corruption in construction contracting

The way in which the contract for building the Connecticut Juvenile Training School was awarded played a key role in the downfall of Connecticut Governor John G. Rowland.[12] The $57m contract was steered to the Tomasso Group by Governor Rowland’s chief of staff Peter N. Ellef, deputy chief of staff Lawrence Alibozek, and head of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families Kristine Ragaglia. The Tomasso Group also financed an affair between Alibozek and Ragaglia, paying for tens of thousands of dollars worth of hotel stays for the couple including a $2,700 one night stay at the Waldorf Astoria the day after Tomasso was awarded the contract for the Juvenile Training School.[13] In 2002 Alibozek pleaded guilty to bribery and was sentenced to prison.[14] Ragaglia testified against Rowland, the Tomasso Group, Alibozek, and Ellef in court. She denied knowledge of the Tomasso Group paying for the services she and Alibozek used claiming that Alibozek said he was paying for it. She claimed to have known that she was steering the project to the Tomasso Group but didnt care as long as the facility got built. She was not prosecuted and continued to work for the state.[13] In 2006 both Ellef and William A. Tomasso (President of the Tomasso Group) were sentenced to 30 months in prison.[12]

Closure

In 2015 Governor Dannel Malloy announced a plan to close the School by July 2018. By that time the facility had 67 prisoners.[11] The school was shut down on April 12, 2018.[15] The closure was controversial because the School was closed before the network that was to replace it had even started being put together.[16]

References
  1. "Juvenile Services". Connecticut Department of Children & Families. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
  2. Rubinski, Cara (2005-08-02). "Rell to Close Juvenile Training Center". Associated Press at The Day. p. B6. - Located at Google News page 23/58
  3. Hamilton, Elizabeth (1999-08-20). "Getting Long Lane Right". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 2019-05-10.
  4. "Area Offices". Connecticut Department of Children and Families. 2006-05-24. Archived from the original on 2006-05-24. Retrieved 2019-05-10. 1225 Silver St, Middletown, CT 06457
  5. Poitras, Colin (2005-08-02). "Rell Closing Boys' Prison". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 2019-05-10.
  6. Poitras, Colin (2002-09-20). "Report Indicts Juvenile Center". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 2019-05-10.
  7. Hamilton, Elizabeth (1999-04-08). "Design Plan Emerges For New Long Lane". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 2019-05-10.
  8. "Long Lane School". Connecticut State Library. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-06.
  9. "A Chronology Of Failure A Brief History Of The Connecticut Juvenile Training School". Hartford Courant. 2 August 2005. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012.
  10. Poitras, Colin (2008-02-10). "Juvenile School Would Grow". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 2019-05-10.
  11. Nalpathanchil, Lucy. "Malloy targets mid-2018 for closing juvenile training school". ctmirror.org. CT Mirror. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  12. Cowan, Alison Leigh (April 26, 2006). "Connecticut Official and State Contractor Are Each Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison". New York Times. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  13. Apuzzo, Matt. "AP Exclusive: Connecticut official who admitted taking lavish gifts now holds state job investigating government fraud". newstimes.com. The Associated Press. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  14. Altimari, Dave. "Rowland's Troubles Began Two Years Ago With Subpoena Delivered To His Office About State Contract With Tomasso". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  15. Middletown Press Staff (2018-04-13). "State closes Connecticut Juvenile Training School in Middletown". connecticutmag.com. Connecticut Magazine. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  16. Rabe Thomas, Jacqueline. "Controversy surrounds closure of juvenile prison". ctmirror.org. CT Mirror. Retrieved 8 May 2019.

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