August 20th, 2016 by WCBC Radio

The union representing Department of Juvenile Services employees is calling on the agency to fill vacancies at the state's detention facility for violent youth, saying that staffing shortages regularly put its workers at risk.

Leaders with the AFSCME Maryland Council 3 held a press conference Wednesday at Victor Cullen Center in Frederick County, where several staffers were injured in a melee involving some of the youth in detention.

Union leaders say that the department's 11 percent vacancy rate, and its recent budget cuts that included eliminating 40 permanent positions, will create more unsafe conditions for staff.