SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, joined by a legal advocacy and defense organization for the GLBTQ community, urged state officials on Monday to use “special consideration” in an investigation into the recent death of a transgender teen at Long Creek Youth Development Center.
Although the teen identified as male, he was housed in the female unit and was on suicide watch, as first reported by Maine Public. The youth died Nov. 1, according to a Long Creek administrator. Sources told Maine Public that several other suicide attempts have occurred recently.
Details about the death have not been made public, but Corrections Commissioner Joseph Fitzpatrick released a two-sentence statement calling it an unspecified “incident” and said all action was being taken to deal with the situation, according to Maine Public.
In an email to the Bangor Daily News on Monday, Fitzpatrick’s spokeswoman, Kelene E. Barrows, wrote, “Commissioner Fitzpatrick will not be interviewed or be commenting regarding Long Creek Youth Development Center due to an ongoing investigation.”
Long Creek Superintendent Jeffrey Merrill confirmed in a Nov. 2 letter to Long Creek employees that a female resident died by suicide.
“He was really quiet,” said a friend who attended the teen’s memorial in Waterville and asked not to be identified. “When he first got there, he was really scared.”
The friend said he believed that the teen was on suicide watch at Long Creek.
“I don’t understand what happened,” the friend said.
In a letter dated Thursday but released Monday morning, officials from GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders and the ACLU Maine said the death “raises urgent, substantial concerns about the conditions, policies, patterns and practices at Long Creek and the health, safety and well-being of transgender, lesbian, gay and bisexual youth.”
The advocates said Long Creek must immediately provide resources, including counseling, for young people coping with the death. They also requested that Attorney General Janet Mills assign an investigator with specialized knowledge of GLBTQ issues.
In the letter, the groups ask for an update on the investigation of the death and any measures being taken to ensure the safety of others incarcerated at Long Creek, in particular transgender youth.
“Most children who are locked up in correctional facilities have experienced some sort of trauma, abuse or mental illness in their young lives,” Jamesa Drake, an attorney with the ACLU of Maine, wrote in a news release Monday. “The Constitution and human decency require us to make sure they have adequate mental health care while they are in the custody of the state. Tragedies like this one raise doubts about whether Long Creek and other youth detention facilities are equipped to provide that care.”
Mills declined to comment on the matter, spokesman Timothy Feeley said in an email.
Bangor Daily News writer Nok-Noi Ricker contributed to this report.