Health Assessment of Polk Juvenile Correctional Facility
Was your child detained at the Polk Juvenile Correctional Facility at any time between 2002 and 2006? If so, your child was probably exposed to toxic mold. Parents and guardians should demand disclosure of all environmental hazards and/or potential health risks that occurred during the period of the youth's incarceration. Here is an excerpt from the report by the Polk County Health Department:
"...we recommend that a building not be occupied during the mitigation process.
From our experience and the literature, we know that some sensitive individuals experience adverse symptoms when in a building where mold amplification has occurred in the indoor environment or air handling system."~Health Assessment of Polk Juvenile Correctional Facility Attachment 1. Polk County Health Department. April 6, 2006.
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Health Assessment of Polk Juvenile Correctional Facility (MS Word document) |
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If you have concerns about this serious health issue, contact:
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Department of Juvenile Justice, Central Communications Center: 800-355-2280 |
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Julia Crouse, Education Staff Writer at the Lakeland Ledger: (863) 802-7536, Julia.Crouse@theledger.com |
Related articles in the Lakeland Ledger (requires free on-line registration to read complete article)
06/17/06
Resuming Classes Before Mold Is Out Is Unconscionable
Susan Brinchman Director Center for School Mold Help La Mesa, Calif., Letter to
the Editor.
Excerpts:
With mold so extensive that 97 percent of the school staff and 71 percent of the facility staff and youth inmates said they had complaints about the air quality, and all industry and major government agencies recommending evacuation of buildings during mold remediation, it is unconscionable that the [Polk County] Health Department would recommend resuming classes in such a facility...
The Health Department is there to protect, not to expose...The shameful removal of Dr. Higgins from the school at the facility, when he stood up for the health rights of the inmates and teachers, shows complete lack of concern for the welfare of these people...
05/06/06 School Official Returns to Work
Dennis Higgins has returned to work after a weeklong suspension from his position as the Polk County School District's senior director of alternative education.
05/02/06 Higgins Helped With Mold
I have been watching the mold issue within the Department of Juvenile Justice facility that has been under scrutiny. My interest is because I was working with Dennis Higgins [the school district's director of alternative education] in one of his...
04/20/06 Official in Mold Alert Suspended
Lakeland -- The district administrator who pulled teachers out of a Polk County juvenile detention center because of mold concerns has been placed on a weeklong suspension.
04/15/06 Health Panel to Review Facility
LAKELAND -- After five weeks of no school, two reports confirming mold and pressure from the Polk School District, the Polk Juvenile Correctional Facility is getting a review from the county Health Department.
04/06/06 Juvenile Justice On the Brink
Last month, the school at a juvenile-detention center in Polk City was closed indefinitely. Staffed with 33 teachers from the Polk County School District, the Sabal Palm alternative school provided classes for about 200 inmates, ages 14 through 21,...
03/30/06 Buildings Hazardous To Occupy
POLK CITY -- The air at Polk Juvenile Correctional Facility is so moldy that three of its five buildings are practically uninhabitable, according to an air quality report prepared for the Polk County School District.
03/29/06 Juvenile Center Will Get Repairs
POLK CITY -- A Polk City juvenile detention center with a leaky roof should get the overhaul it needs after concerns about air quality shut down its school nearly a month ago.
03/18/06 Moldy Air Cuts Into Inmates' Classes
POLK CITY -- A myriad of air quality issues have forced the Polk County School District to indefinitely close the school at a juvenile detention center in Polk City.
