Session sought to fix youth services 'crisis'

— State Rep. Dennis Young, D-Texarkana, asked Gov. Mike Huckabee to call a special legislative session to address abuse and mismanagement at the state Youth Services Division.

Huckabee spokesman Jim Harris said the governor will not do so.

In a letter hand-delivered to the governor's office Tuesday, Young wrote it is "vital" that the problems within the division "be addressed and remedied yesterday." The division is a part of the state Department of Human Services.

Young drafted a study proposal Wednesday that would put the Department of Correction or another "appropriate entity" in charge of delinquent youths in state custody.

"My mission is to take care of the crisis that we have on our hands," Young said Wednesday. "There are only a few things I can do. The governor is the only one who can call a special session. If he can rectify the situation without a session, so be it. But I'm not seeing any action."

Harris said the governor doesn't believe a special session is necessary. The next regular legislative session begins in January.

"We're doing everything that needs to be done administratively, and the Governor's Working Group of Juvenile Justice will provide the governor with the information needed to develop legislation for the 1999 session," Harris said.

Among other things, the governor hired a new division director and has promised to protect children in the state's custody from further abuse, Harris said.

Sunday, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette began a six-part series on the agency's problems, including physical abuse of delinquent children in its care.

Boys have alleged that they were beaten or raped at the division's Observation and Assessment Center in North Little Rock.

Young told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Huckabee has not moved fast enough to remedy the problems.

"Rome burned while Nero fiddled," Young said Tuesday. "I guess DYS and everything else is going to go up in smoke while [Huckabee's] out plucking on his guitar."

Huckabee plays bass guitar in his office band, Capitol Offense.

Young said Wednesday that a number of legislators have told him privately that they support his efforts to correct the problems. But he said many of his colleagues "are scared to death to do anything. They are scared to cross the governor."

"Mr. Young has been regular in his criticism of the governor," Harris retorted. "We feel the governor's time is better spent finding solutions than responding to chronic critics."

Young's interim study proposal will be considered Friday by the Legislative Council, a panel of legislators that keeps an eye on state government between sessions.

The proposal requests the House interim committees on Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs and the Senate Committee on Children to study whether the Department of Correction or some other state agency would be better equipped to handle delinquent children.

Harris said the governor and his staff are looking at a number of changes to improve youthful-offender operations. He wouldn't comment on whether discussions have included shifting the responsibilities to another state agency, saying he hasn't been privy to all of the information.

In the interim study proposal, Young said the Youth Services Division "has been derelict in its responsibilities under the law" because it has not been conducting criminal background checks on employees who work with children.

Young sponsored legislation in the 1997 session to require background checks for state employees and prospective state employees who have direct contact with children.

Act 1019 of 1997 required state agencies to complete background checks on all existing employees by Oct. 1, 2000, and on prospective employees beginning last October.

In April, the division hired Willie Slater, who had been convicted of murder in Phillips County in 1974, as a youth services worker.

A Democrat-Gazette reporter told department officials about Slater, who was fired May 22. After learning of Slater, the department speeded up the process for obtaining background checks on new employees.

On May 15, Young sent letters to the state agencies affected by Act 1019, asking whether they were complying with the law.

On Tuesday, Young sent another letter to the affected state agencies, asking six questions. He wants the agencies to respond by June 26. He asked:

  • When the agencies began conducting background checks for prospective employees.
  • If the agencies have already conducted background checks for existing employees. If not, Young wanted to know the agency's plan for completing the checks.
  • How many background checks have been conducted for new and existing employees.
  • How many background checks turned up criminal records.
  • How many prospective employees were rejected because of background checks.
  • How many waivers were granted for current or prospective employees who had criminal backgrounds.

Harris said the governor has taken steps to correct problems within the division.

"It took us a very long time to get in this situation," Harris said. "We have been cleaning it up pretty quickly."

On April 24, Huckabee called a news conference, vowing that all children in the state's custody would be protected from further abuse.

On May 13, Huckabee named former state Rep. Paul Doramus of Benton as the division's new director. Doramus started work June 1, replacing the acting director, Larance Johnson, who resigned April 22.

On March 26, Huckabee appointed 25 people to a working group to work on revising the state's juvenile justice codes. His action came two days after five people were killed and 10 people wounded in a shooting at Westside Middle School near Jonesboro. Two boys, Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 12, have been charged in the shootings.

Huckabee has denied knowing of any substantial abuse problems at the division until April 23.

On May 26, Jonann Coniglio, the Human Services Department's chief counsel, asked the Arkansas State Police to investigate allegations of abuse of youths in the custody of the Youth Services Division to determine who knew about the claims, when they knew and what the did about them.

Sen. Wayne Dowd, D-Texarkana, who is Senate president pro tempore, said Wednesday if Huckabee is unable to solve problems "real quickly," he would support a special session.

Dowd said a special session should address "the overall juvenile problem, not just DYS [Division of Youth Services]."

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