LITTLE ROCK — Several juvenile court judges in Arkansas said Monday that they are troubled by problems with the state's juvenile justice system.
Saline County Circuit-Chancery Judge Gary Arnold called the reports of abuse of children by Department of Human Services staff and other juveniles in state custody "horror stories."
Washington County Circuit-Chancery Judge Charles Williams is also disturbed by the problems he is reading about.
But Williams is unsure that the state's first major step taken as a result of a series of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette articles -- the closing of the Central Arkansas Observation and Assessment Center in North Little Rock operated by Human Services' Youth Services Division -- will make much of a difference.
Gov. Mike Huckabee announced Friday plans to close the center within 60 days. The 61 children there will be gradually moved to other state facilities.
Many of the assessment center's problems seemed to have been caused by abusive or poorly trained staff, Williams said.
"Just simply switching kids from one facility to another, it doesn't sound as though you could be solving the problem," he said. "I think that's a lot of the concern that the judges have.
"I'm not as concerned about where the work is done as how it's done," he said.
Jefferson County Circuit-Chancery Judge Tommy Brown, said the Democrat-Gazette series helped confirm many suspicions people have had about Division of Youth Services facilities. He said the stories have cleared the way for necessary, widespread change.
As things change, however, Brown said he'd like to be able to keep better track of the children he puts in Youth Services custody.
"Over the years, I have had an inordinate amount of problems obtaining reports, and accurate reports on the kids and how they're doing," he said.
Some judges don't want frequent updates on the children they send to Youth Services because the judges have no control after the division takes over, Brown said. But he requests reports every two months so he can gauge the effectiveness of division programs and the progress of the children he sentenced.
Pulaski County Circuit-Chancery Judge Wiley A. Branton Jr. also is concerned about the allegations detailed in the Democrat-Gazette.
On June 14, the newspaper began a series of stories on problems in the Youth Services Division, including allegations that boys have been beaten and sexually assaulted at the North Little Rock center.
Since abuse allegations were brought to their attention by a Democrat-Gazette reporter in April, the governor and the department have hired a new division director, fired seven employees and asked for FBI and state police investigations.
"It's pretty clear there's some major administrative and operating problems at some of these institutions," Branton said.
Although Branton said every alleged problem at the Youth Service Division facilities should be investigated, he isn't taking all the allegations as gospel: Some children in the system, he said, "can be skillful at manipulating situations."
Branton is also concerned that closing the Observation and Assessment Center in North Little Rock will lead to overcrowding elsewhere.
"I have long been concerned that [Youth Services facilities] have been overcrowded and simply didn't keep kids long enough to do any good," he said. "I don't think they have the ability to just increase capacity at the other places."
Arnold, however, said he has been assured by DHS officials that the 61 children currently held at the North Little Rock center would not overload other Youth Services facilities, which include the Alexander Youth Services Center and wilderness camps.
"I'm being assured by the DYS director that those problems are being addressed and corrected," Arnold said. "My understanding is they have identified sufficient beds and facilities to address that, to avoid the need to release early."
Arnold also said he believes the state Human Services Department is capable of correcting problems in the system.
"I certainly think DYS is capable of doing it itself, it just has to do it. They're charged with that responsibility. They better do it," he said.
Human Services spokesman Joe Quinn said Monday that department officials were confident they could find room for the children displaced from the North Little Rock center within the 60-day time limit imposed by Huckabee without overcrowding other facilities.
On the first business day after Huckabee ordered the closing of the North Little Rock center and relocation of the children housed there, construction crews were hard at work renovating two cottages at the Alexander Center, Quinn said.
In a few weeks, the cottages will be ready to absorb some of the juvenile offenders now living in the North Little Rock center, he said. Quinn said it was too early to say where youths would be transferred.
While workers removed asbestos from the cottages in Alexander, officials made plans to move child sex-offenders to the State Hospital in Little Rock.
Those two moves, along with youths leaving Youth Services custody for community-based programs across the state or filling available beds in the division's wilderness camps, should compensate for the loss of the North Little Rock center, Quinn said.
It is still too early to say exactly how many of the 61 children in custody at the Observation and Assessment center will go to the renovated cabins in Alexander or to the State Hospital, Quinn said.
"The numbers are going to fit for us," he said. "We have a lot of work to do on how we will assess without [the North Little Rock center], but we're still pretty confident that we're in good shape today."