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 New chief thinks about privatizing youth services RACHEL O'NEAL ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE The new director of the state Youth Services Division said Friday that he is considering turning part or all of the division over to the private sector. Russell Rigsby of Jonesboro, who has been on the job since Jan. 13, told a legislative panel that he is "strongly looking at privatization," especially at the division's Alexander Youth Services Center. "That's one of the alternatives we are looking at, but that's not our firm direction," Rigsby told members of the House Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs Committee. Also Friday, the committee received a copy of draft legislation on blended sentencing for youthful offenders. The proposed legislation, based on the work of a task force appointed by Gov. Mike Huckabee, would allow delinquent youths to be transferred to adult prisons if the youths fail to convince a juvenile court judge that they had been sufficiently rehabilitated at the youth center. Rep. John Lewellen, D-Little Rock said he has received six telephone calls from division employees afraid of losing their jobs. Rigsby replaced Paul Doramus of Benton, who was hired by Huckabee to clean up the division. Before that, Rigsby was director of the division's wilderness camp for young serious offenders at Colt. Last June, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette published a series of articles on problems in the division's facilities for juvenile delinquents. The articles detailed allegations of abuse and mismanagement, and the division has been working on the problems. Doramus resigned in November, citing job stress. Before he resigned, Doramus suggested privatizing some of the division's functions. Rigsby said he and other officials are considering whether to privatize the division's "direct operations in terms of direct care and oversight of juveniles." After testifying before the House committee, Rigsby said he is trying to "make sure that privatization is in the best interest of the children first and then the division." Rep. Sue Madison, D-Fayetteville, chairman of the committee, said after the meeting that she's not sure privatization is a good idea. "I understand that people think its more cost-effective," Madison said. "I, myself, have a hard time understanding how a private company in it for money can do it more cheaply that a state." Madison said she hopes the Legislature will "carefully and cautiously" consider privatization. "I worry about the state employees who kind of get jerked off their jobs after years of employment," she said. "I have some real serious reservations about it." The division has privatized its educational system. Rivendell Management Co. has a contract with the division for $827,475 to provide regular, special and vocational education to youths at the Alexander center. The contract became effective Dec. 1, 1998. Rivendell provides 21 instructors, including seven special education teachers and a speech pathologist. The center's youths are to attend classes six hours a day, five days a week. Before the Rivendell contract, students attended classes two to three hours a day, five days a week. The division is a part of the state Department of Human Services. Kurt Knickrehm, director of the department, said after the meeting that he has talked to two companies about privatization of the division. The companies are Wackenhut, which runs private prisons in Arkansas, and Corrections Corporation of America, another company that runs private prisons. But Knickrehm said he is not sure whether privatization is the way to go. "It is an option and it is an alternative, and I think it's prudent to explore those options, but no commitments have been made," Knickrehm said. The 37-page draft on blended sentencing grew out of recommendations from the Governor's Working Group on Juvenile Justice. The group was assembled after the March 24, 1998, shooting deaths of four students and a teacher at Westside Middle School near Jonesboro. Ten other people were wounded. The two boys in state custody for the shooting deaths were Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden. Johnson was 13 at the time of the shooting and Golden was 11. Under Arkansas law, youths committed to the division may be held until they are 21 years old, but since Arkansas doesn't have a juvenile facility to hold 18- to 21-year-olds, the longest that delinquents can be held is until their 18th birthdays. Youths of those ages may be tried under current law as adults and sentenced to adult prisons. Under the blended sentencing concept, delinquent youths tried under the juvenile code could be transferred to adult prisons if they failed to convince a judge that they were rehabilitated. Also under the proposal, youths age 10-13 could be subjected to "extended juvenile jurisdiction" if charged with capital or first-degree murder. Youths age 14-15 would be subject to extended jurisdiction for a wider range of crimes. Prosecutors would retain the discretion of charging youths ages 16-17 in either juvenile or circuit court. This article was published on Saturday, January 30, 1999 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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