State officials were at Shuman Juvenile Detention Center again this week, investigating a teen's apparent suicide attempt that was not immediately reported and, in a separate incident, a possibly illegal restraint by a staff member that resulted in a teen striking his head on a hard surface.

On the evening of Oct. 3, a teen reportedly was found in his room with a bed sheet formed into a noose.

A youth care worker calmed him down, but counselors and the health staff did not learn what had happened until the following Monday, the Department of Public Welfare confirmed yesterday. Nearly 60 hours after he was found with the noose, the youth was still agitated and threatening to hurt himself and was immediately put under close supervision.

A few days before that, a staff member trying to restrain a teen resident may have used excessive force, resulting in the teen hitting his head. The encounter was caught on videotape, which Department of Public Welfare officials have reviewed.

In the tape, "we saw evidence that raised concerns about the health and safety of the kids in their care," said DPW spokeswoman Stacey Witalec, who added "we will be referring this to the appropriate agency for action."

Shuman already is operating on a provisional license -- the first time that has ever occurred at the Lincoln-Lemington facility -- after state inspectors this summer found Shuman out of compliance with state regulations, citing problems ranging from inadequate staffing to problems with building maintenance.

Following multiple assaults against staff earlier this year, DPW said it was increasing its monitoring of the facility. With the additional incidents last week, that monitoring will be increased again, said Ms. Witalec.

"Clearly, an environment of health and safety has been compromised on many levels at Shuman," she said. "We plan to have daily contact with them, whether that be a physical body or a telephone call, and we plan to increase monitoring of their programs, their policies and their procedures."

Shuman Director William T. "Jack" Simmons yesterday said he cannot comment while a state investigation is ongoing. But Rick Grejda, business agent for SEIU Local 668 that represents Shuman youth care workers, said he believes state regulations on restraints contribute to the danger.

"They [Shuman workers] are trained to take the resident down in the safest way possible, but there are no shackles and there are no handcuffs. You're asking, at times, that very small people restrain very large people, or very large people to restrain very small people."

In a chaotic situation, where a teen's behavior is out of control, "the current restraints that youth care workers are permitted to utilize are not sufficient," he said.

Ms. Witalec strongly disagreed, saying youth workers should recognize and defuse situations before they escalate.

If there is some question about when and how to properly use restraints, she said, Shuman administrators and the union "should come to the table with any concerns, and work through them with us so we don't ever have to have another situation where you take a resident down."

On Aug. 15, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and Mr. Simmons held a news conference at Shuman to say the violations cited by DPW had been addressed and Mr. Onorato said he expected the state would issue Shuman a full license "in the very near future."

The findings of a follow-up DPW inspection done that week have not been released.