While I was in Devereux there was a lot of abuse of power. On the Discovery Unit for children 10 to 13/14 there were staff taking the children out of camera view and hitting them often using the excuse that they just needed a whooping. On the Butterfly Unit, where the ages range from as young as 12 to as old as 21, there were staff members allowing children to use there phones to talk to people from their past who were negative influences. They would also allow girls that they favored to fight the girls who caused them trouble. If you wrote a grievance on a staff member or another client they would always find out and seek revenge. The male staff would find out which clients were apart of the CSEC program and re-exploit them. They would become engaged in ‘romantic’ relationships with the female clients, then when the females were released they would help them get back with their original exploiters, in turn they would get a reward whether monetary or sexually. But I will say it isn’t just the staff that makes the experience horrible, it is also the clients. If a particularly difficult client comes in and becomes close with the supervisors, then whenever they act out they will get minimal if and punishment at all. Overall I believe I came out worse than when I went in. I gained even more trauma than I already had which has made it even harder not to self medicate.
(please leave my name off of it, I would like to remain anonymous)
