This week, because of the abuse cases and a host of other failings, state public welfare officials downgraded the center's operating license until improvements are made. That allows the state to exert more control over the center's day-to-day operations.
"This gives us a chance to get inside and say what they need to do," said Estelle Richman, state secretary of public welfare.
Acting DHS commissioner Arthur C. Evans Jr. said his department would "take all necessary corrective actions to protect the Philadelphia youth at the center." He said many of the problems could be attributed to the stresses of overcrowding and would be solved by a planned new center.
The state's action comes as Philadelphia Family Court judges are yanking 43 youths in DHS custody out of a Tennessee treatment center where 17-year-old Philadelphian Omega Leach died in June after being restrained by a counselor.
This month, Kevin Dougherty, administrative judge of Philadelphia Family Court, called the Tennessee center "too aggressive."
Tennessee investigators are awaiting an autopsy report and no charges have been filed in Leach's case.
Among the shortcomings at the Philadelphia center noted in this week's state report:
Staff members failed to immediately report the three cases of abuse and failed to submit incident reports to the state about them, as required by law.
Center staff failed to ensure that youths were in school; only half were attending afternoon classes.
The center tested the youths for sexually transmitted disease without their consent and failed to collect emergency contact information for any of them.
The five-story brick Youth Study Center, on the Parkway near the Art Museum, is outdated and overcrowded, DHS officials said.
