DC Youth Rehabilitation Services security agent dies from COVID-19
Washington DC April 7 2020
Kenneth J. Moore was a father figure wherever he went. By day, he helped counsel and guard teenagers who had been arrested in the District for the city’s Youth Rehabilitation Services. On nights and weekends, he was a dad to his three sons, two stepchildren and many other youths he encountered as his kids grew up in Prince George’s County.
Moore died Wednesday of the covid-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus, the head of the Youth Rehabilitation Services department said. He was 52 and had worked for the agency as a youth development representative for 16 years, agency Director Clinton Lacey said.
“His compassion and commitment to our youth as a public servant,” Lacey said in a letter to agency employees, “will have a lasting impact on countless youth, families and DYRS staff.”
Moore worked most recently in the at-risk office in the Superior Court in the District, accompanying teens to court appearances and coordinating their movements between various city holding facilities for juveniles, according to Andre Phillips, chairman of the Fraternal Order of Police’s labor committee for the youth agency. Moore had been quarantined for two weeks after encountering a deputy U.S. marshal who had been in the same corridor of the courthouse and confirmed with the coronavirus, Phillips said, but it was not determined where exactly Moore was infected.
Moore worked directly with children at the New Beginnings Youth Development Center in Laurel, the Youth Services Center in Northeast and the Oak Hill Youth Detention Center during his years with the youth agency.
“He took his job very seriously,” Phillips said. “He was the first one to work and the last to leave. He was always helpful to other colleagues. Just a great guy.”
“He loved that job,” said his son, Kenneth Moore Jr. “He always worked with youth, trying to get them on the right path.”
Moore, who grew up in the District, was divorced with three sons. His oldest works for the Department of Homeland Security, his middle son is in college and his youngest is in high school, Kenneth Moore Jr. said. He also has stepchildren from another relationship, and “everybody sees him as a father figure,” Kenneth Moore Jr. said. “He took care of a lot of kids, that’s the kind of guy he is.”
“He was a great stepfather, father and grandfather,” said his stepson, Nathan Perkins. Perkins said Moore’s conversations about being a correctional officer and counselor for teenagers helped nudge him into becoming a member of law enforcement locally.
His sons said Moore liked to relax with family at home, barbecue on the grill, and watch the Redskins or any Washington sports team. Moore had the Redskins logo on his car headrests.
“When he wasn’t working,” Kenneth Moore Jr. said, “he just wanted to sit back and drink a beer, watch TV. He would help out with the kids, go to their sports games. He made sure everybody was happy in their own way. Just an all-around good person who showed his love in different ways, to make sure everybody smiled.”
Employees in the youth rehabilitation department are considered essential and must report to work, managing two facilities for juveniles who have been detained for crimes as well as handling youths who are just entering the system and being temporarily held.
But the city has rejected the union’s request for hazard pay, Phillips said. He said employees such as Moore already faced hazards dealing with young offenders who can become violent. “The last thing we need to worry about is encountering something lethal,” Phillips said. “We deserve to be compensated for putting our lives on the line.”
The mayor’s media relations office did not respond to a request for comment about hazard pay. In a March 27 news conference, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser said, “Nobody gets hazard pay,” in response to a question about first-responders.
Washington Post
