After two more staff members were assaulted recently at the Indian River DYS facility in Massillon as chronic understaffing puts more and more lives at risk, members continue to speak out about the attacks.

 

In a News5Cleveland interview, Tara Patris, a Correction Officer at the Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) who volunteers weekends at the DYS facility, told the news outlet that "staff at the Indian River Juvenile Correctional Facility need help!" As an OCSEA member, she recently wrote to Gov. Mike DeWine after back-to-back assaults, including seeing an attack on another volunteer officer and union sister. "Patris was so horrified by the violent attack on her colleague that she wrote DeWine begging him to do something," the interview explains.

 

She told the governor that attacks on staff are happening far too frequently lately, and that "policies need to change" to protect staff, reduce understaffing and hold violent youth accountable.

 

The DeWine Administration has made the following statement: "We appreciate receiving the information she provided about safety concerns. The Governor's Office has been in contact with DYS about the overall situation at Indian River, and we are discussing next steps."

 

OCSEA President Mabe, who toured the facility this month, has also been speaking out publicly about the crisis in our youth prisons. "The escalating cycle of violence at Indian River is the result of mismanagement at the highest levels of the Dept. of Youth Services,” said OCSEA President Chris Mabe. “We need more staffing, a safer work environment and changes at the top of DYS. And we need it now.”

Read News5Cleveland interview story: Indian River guard details violent work life for staff at juvenile correctional facility 

April 15, 2026 - As we reported last week, two more staff members were assaulted at the Indian River DYS facility in Massillon as chronic understaffing puts more and more lives at risk. Since then, OCSEA member Kim King has spoken out about her harrowing experience when she was knocked unconscious by a youth at the facility. King, a Staff Sergeant from the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF), was working overtime at the youth facility to assist with the chronic staff shortages.

"I was blindsided; I was knocked out. They said I was unconscious for about 30 seconds, and I don't know what took place from there," King said of the March 28 attack in Friday's Columbus Dispatch article. "I was told that it took response four minutes to get to me."

OCSEA President Mabe, who toured the facility this month, has also been speaking out publicly about the crisis in our youth prisons. "The escalating cycle of violence at Indian River is the result of mismanagement at the highest levels of the Dept. of Youth Services,” said OCSEA President Chris Mabe. “We need more staffing, a safer work environment and changes at the top of DYS. And we need it now.” Read last week's OCSEA story on this issue below.

April 8, 2026 - On the weekend before Easter, two more staff members were assaulted at the Indian River DYS facility in Massillon. One of the staff members, a DRC Corrections Sergeant who volunteered to work overtime at the facility, was knocked unconscious while youths unlocked doors and attacked other inmates. “The escalating cycle of violence at Indian River is the result of mismanagement at the highest levels of the Department of Youth Services,” said OCSEA President Chris Mabe. “We need more staffing, a safer work environment and changes at the top of DYS. And we need it now.”

President Mabe and OCSEA staff toured Indian River last week and found the facility dangerously understaffed. During the inspection tour, each unit had only one officer on duty where there are supposed to be two.

Davion Thomas, a Juvenile Corrections Officer at Indian River and the President of Chapter 7660, says the situation has gotten worse. Thomas and President Mabe were interviewed by a reporter from Channel 5 in Cleveland for a story about the ongoing violence at the facility (see the link below). While the staffing situation remains unresolved, DYS has announced they are pausing the transfer of any more youth to Indian River through the month of April.