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| "Arkansas' Voice on the Internet" | Previous Features / Investigations |
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 Lawmakers adopt report on failure to halt abuses RACHEL O'NEAL ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE With no discussion two legislative committees unanimously adopted a report Monday alleging that six state officials, including Gov. Mike Huckabee, failed to take adequate steps to stop the abuse of children in state custody. Also Monday, officials with the Youth Services Division reassured lawmakers about the security of children in state custody. The division is one of 11 divisions in the 7,700-employee state Department of Human Services, the largest in Arkansas government. "We feel like they are safer, better cared-for and more protected now than they have been in a long time," Gina Jackson, the division's assistant director of operations, told the legislators. Sens. John Brown of Siloam Springs and Doyle Webb of Benton were the only two Republicans at the meeting when the committees adopted the report. Afterward, Brown said the committees had dealt fairly with a volatile subject. He hopes the Legislature can work on solutions with the executive branch during the legislative session that begins Jan. 11, he said. Brown said he would support a "whistle-blower protection" law for employees who expose abuse. The 10-page report, made public Wednesday, resulted from seven days of hearings that included 37 hours of testimony about the division's troubles. The hearings were conducted by the Senate Interim Committee on Children and Youth and the House Interim Committee on Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs. The committees found that Huckabee and five employees in the governor's office and the department did not "take affirmative action to remedy the abuse" of children in state custody. The other employees are Huckabee's liaisons to the department, Sandra Winston and Larry Toller; former department Director Lee Frazier; former division Director Larance Johnson; and department spokesman Joe Quinn. The day that the report was released, Paul Doramus of Benton, whom Huckabee hired in May to clean up the division, resigned as division director. He cited stress. In June, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette published a series of articles on conditions that youths in the division experienced. The committees' report found that although Huckabee took action in April 1998, he did not do enough from August 1997 to April 1998 to ensure that state officials were fixing the problems as they had promised. The report also listed four pages of recommendations to minimize or prevent such problems. At the top of the list is determining whether the division needs reorganizing. Other recommendations include possibly privatizing youth-offender centers and revamping staff training. Sen. Mike Ross, D-Prescott, chairman of the Senate committee, and Rep. Sue Madison, D-Fayetteville, chairman of the House committee, will be in charge of drafting proposed legislation. Jackson told lawmakers that the division has worked on solutions, including:  Employees must undergo 52 hours of training, including two days of orientation on policy and procedure, two days on crisis prevention intervention, one day on first aid, one day on search and seizure and half a day on gang training. Before, the employees underwent two hours of orientation. Last week, the division signed a $827,475 contract with Rivendell Management Co. to provide regular, special and vocational education to youths at the Alexander Youth Services Center. Starting Dec. 1, Rivendell will provide 21 instructors, including seven special-education teachers and a speech pathologist. Youths will attend classes for six hours a day, five days a week, as opposed to two to three hours a day. For the first time, the division has obtained Medicaid money, which lets the agency double its psychiatric beds from 15 to 30. The division has a contract to treat youths addicted to drugs or alcohol. The Alexander center has a staff doctor. Razor wire is being added to the Alexander center's fence. The division has conducted criminal background checks on employees and will perform them on job applicants. At the Alexander center, the division has refurbished a cottage and removed asbestos from the girls unit and from an old infirmary. A day room has been built for the girls unit. The division has rewritten two-thirds of policy and procedure manuals at the Alexander center "to meet or exceed the American Correctional Association standards for a juvenile-detention facilities," Jackson said.This article was published on Tuesday, November 10, 1998 Copyright, permissions and privacy policy Copyright © 2008, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. |
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