Assaulted youth center aide dies

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=715780

Training in newer methods for handling troubled clients follows outcry over new, lenient Tryon policy

By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau
First published: Thursday, August 28, 2008

An aide who suffered a stroke a few days after he was assaulted at the troubled Tryon youth center died Tuesday night after being in a coma since Friday.

The state Office of Children and Family Services, which operates Tryon, confirmed that Charles Loftly, 54, died early Tuesday evening. Other published reports indicated that Loftly's family had him removed from life support at St. Luke's Hospital in Utica after it became clear he wasn't going to improve.

Meanwhile, OCFS has told Tryon employees they plan to temporarily "downsize" the facility, located outside Johnstown in Fulton County, by removing approximately half the 100 youngsters in the boys' unit.

The move is being made to provide staff members with more training in what the agency described as newer methods of dealing with troubled youths.

"They are planning to downsize Tryon over the next month and then use a two-month period to retrain and repopulate it," said Stephen Madarasz, spokesman for the Civil Service Employees Association, one of the unions representing youth center employees.

"We're approaching that very cautiously," he added.

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