SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Two staff members have been fired at San Diego County's emergency shelter for kids.
State social workers say there was an "immediate risk" to the safety of the children in care at Polinsky Children's Center.
Team 10 investigated the issue to uncover what happened and why everyone who works at the Polinsky Children's Center had to be retrained.
A two-page document ABC 10News obtained describes an incident that happened at the center in December 2022. Staff had dragged a child by their legs, according to the document.
The facility evaluation report from the California Department of Social Services described a video recording from inside the facility showing a child sitting on the stage in the gym.
It says a staff member grabbed them by their arm and pulled a microphone out of their hands.
The report also says the child ran off the stage toward staff members, and they restrained them on the gym floor.
According to the report, after a few minutes, staff let go and the child ran out of the gym and dropped to the ground. The report says staff then grabbed them by the legs and dragged them back into the gym. The report says two other staff members were present while another grabbed both of the youth's legs.
State social workers say video from the facility showed two different staff members grabbing the child and dragging them.
ABC 10News asked San Diego County about the incident, and a county spokesperson said they didn't have a comment.
Shane Harris is a local activist who used to be a foster kid. As a child, he spent time at the Polinksy Center.
"Is this the kind of county that we want to be? That when we take children away from their biological families and say 'We're going to treat them safer and they're going to be safer in our environment' that they are actually less safe," Harris says.
Harris reviewed the California Department of Social Services report as well.
"It brings up a bigger concern of whether Polinsky is actually operational and really doing good for the children that come to the center and whether they are safe, and I think that's really the overarching question when I looked at this recent report," he says.
The Polinsky Children's Center is no stranger to Team 10.
This report is the latest in a series of incidents for the county's emergency shelter.
State investigations have resulted in at least seven type A citations, which is the most serious type of violation, and 10 type B violations. The latter are violations that if not corrected could pose a danger.
RELATED: Concerns raised about San Diego County emergency shelter for youth
State records don't show a timeframe for those violations.
However, a Team 10 investigation earlier in 2023 uncovered three safety violations.
In those cases, The state cited the Polinsky Center for not providing adequate supervision.
They also found a staff member left one of the kids in a closet with the light off. When they were finally let out, the records say the kid was crying.
Last year, the state sent a scathing letter to the director of San Diego County's Child Welfare Services. The letter said the Polinsky Center is supposed to be a temporary stay of no more than 10 days. Instead, the letter says youth are staying there much longer.
At the time the county said it was something they addressed.
According to the state, the facility has retrained all staff to no longer use what many believe is a very dangerous form of restraint, known as the prone restraint. They've also been trained on crisis communication.
