The superintendent of the troubled Lookout Mountain youth detention center in Golden has been placed on indefinite administrative leave as the state conducts an unspecified employment investigation.
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Lindsey Miller, who runs the 96-bed facility for young people convicted of crimes, received a letter on July 20 from the state’s Division of Youth Services informing her of the suspension, which will last “until further notice,” according to the letter, obtained by The Denver Post through an open records request. The leave will continue until the “resolution of an employment investigation.”
The letter did not specify the nature of the state’s probe.
On the same day, the Division of Youth Services’ director also suspended the facility’s program manager, Justin Tomsick, according to a separate letter. Miller and Tomsick are barred from communicating with other Department of Human Services employees regarding the issues under investigation, and the two are prohibited from entering department buildings without prior approval.
Neither responded to requests for comment.
Officials tapped Samantha Wilson, the director of another juvenile detention center, as interim superintendent.
Haysel Hernandez, a DYS spokesperson, said officials made the leadership changes “to ensure continued stability.” The facility continues to operate as usual, she said, with no disruptions to the youth or their visitor services. Human Services officials, in a separate statement, stressed that administrative leave does not imply guilt and is not considered a corrective or disciplinary action. The letters, officials said, are formatted through a standard template.
The suspensions come less than a year after state officials temporarily removed all youth from Lookout Mountain amid deteriorating safety conditions. Records obtained by The Post last year showed the move came after serious assaults on staff, drugs entering the facility and at least one violent threat that led the state to request additional police patrols.
DYS reopened portions of the Golden facility on Nov. 1 after providing additional training to staff, redesigning programming and creating a working group to recommend changes.
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The Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center has a history of riots, violence and escapes.
Five staff members and a small number of youth last year were injured at the campus during a series of violent incidents.
In 2019, there were five high-profile security issues at the Golden complex, including a staff member arrested on suspicion of possessing child pornography, multiple escapes by violent young people and a riot between rival gangs, which injured three staff members.
The following year, the state split Lookout Mountain into four distinct facilities, citing evidence from other states showing better outcomes at smaller centers. The state later unified the complex into a single facility.
An investigation by The Post last year found that DYS facilities around the state have seen rampant allegations of excessive force by staff members, serious injuries sustained by teens while being physically restrained and a litany of illicit drugs entering secure facilities, as well as several allegations of staff members engaging in sexual relationships with youth in their care.
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