LITTLE ROCK — Lee Frazier, director of the state Department of Human Services since last July, resigned Wednesday amid allegations that children are being abused while in state custody.
Frazier became the agency's director July 1, 1997. His resignation will take effect exactly a year later. Department of Finance and Administration Director Richard Weiss was named acting human services director and will head the department for three to four months during the search for a permanent director.
Gov. Mike Huckabee said he "reluctantly" accepted Frazier's resignation, saying Frazier did a good job at the Human Services Department. The department is the state's largest agency with more than 7,700 employees and a budget of more than $2 billion in state and federal funds.
"Lee has done a magnificent job," Huckabee said. "If people would take a look at his record, they would find he's got a heck of a record in one year."
Frazier, 51, did not return several telephone messages left at his office and home.
The governor said Frazier has accepted a job at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences where he will be director of community programs. The job involves working with community mental health centers, teaching a master's degree level course on public health and working on a joint health program between the university and the state Department of Health.
Friday, Huckabee ordered the closing of the Central Arkansas Observation and Assessment Center in North Little Rock, which houses juvenile delinquents in the state's custody. The center is run by the Human Services Department's Youth Services Division.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette began a six-part series June 14 about the division's problems, including the physical abuse of delinquents in the state's care. Boys have alleged that they were beaten or sexually assaulted at the center and at other Youth Services Division facilities such as the Alexander Youth Services Center and wilderness camps for serious offenders.
Huckabee said Frazier does not deserve the blame for all of the problems within the division.
"In spite of all the things that whirl around DHS, Lee has truly done a remarkable job," Huckabee said. "I love the guy."
In taking the Human Services Department job, Frazier replaced Tom Dalton, who became Huckabee's special assistant for welfare reform. In 1996, Frazier founded Trinity Healthcare. Before opening the company, Frazier was executive vice president of St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center in Little Rock.
Huckabee said he believes there has been an attempt by some lawmakers to "try and come at him, and I think Lee's done too good a job to deserve that."
He said Frazier "felt like the legislators were coming after him."
Frazier talked to him about the possibility of resigning Tuesday, Huckabee said, and "finalized" his resignation Wednesday. Huckabee said the resignation was made orally.
Huckabee spokesman Jim Harris said Frazier told the governor he wanted to quit Tuesday. The governor "asked him to sleep on it," Harris said.
"From what I understand, Lee was ready for a change," Harris said.
When asked whether the allegations of children's abuse played a part in Frazier's resignation, Harris said "having to deal with that every day would put a strain on anybody."
Sen. Morril Harriman, D-Van Buren, said Frazier did as well as he could given the many responsibilities he had to juggle.
"Overall, [lawmakers] tried to see positive in him even when he wasn't knowledgeable on certain issues or didn't pay particular attention to a legislator's issues and that was because he had so many irons in the fire," Harriman said.
Rep. Pat Flanagin, D-Forrest, gave Frazier's job performance "an above-average rating," adding "we could have done a whole lot worse."
Huckabee said Frazier's one-year tenure at the Human Services Department was typical, considering the high turnover in the director's office. The department has had four directors in the past six years.
"It's a tough job," Huckabee said. "I think the shelf life for DHS directors is something along the line of a loaf of bread because no matter what they do, it will never be perfect."
The governor said he will conduct a national search for a new director.
Wednesday, Huckabee sent Frazier a letter thanking him for his service and listing his "achievements."
The list included implementation of the state's welfare-reform program; implementation of ARKids First, a health-care program for children of the working poor; and changes made "to stop the abuse of juveniles."
"I hate to lose Lee from, frankly, a personal standpoint," Huckabee said. "Lee has become a very close, personal friend and a true confidant in many ways, and I value his friendship and that will remain."
Huckabee said that if the resignation had come a month ago, he would have been "more worried than I am now." But Huckabee said he and Frazier have made personnel changes at the Human Services Department that will help with the transition.
The department has several new division heads.
Former state Rep. Paul Doramus became director of the Youth Services Division on June 1. He replaced Larance Johnson, who resigned. Other new hires include Jonann Coniglio, the department's chief counsel; and Diane O'Connell, director of the Division of Children and Family Services.
Tuesday, Frazier hired Kurt Knickrehm, former head of a health-care company, as the department's deputy director. Knickrehm replaces Rich Howell, who retired in February.
Last week, Frazier asked for the resignation of Glenda Bean, director of the division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education. Bean said Wednesday that she refused and that Frazier will have to fire her.
Huckabee described Weiss as the perfect choice to take over the department during the national search. With Weiss in charge, Huckabee said he won't be in a "panicked rush" to find a permanent director.
"What we need right now is Richard's complete command of state government," Huckabee said. "I think he can give us that bridge until the search is complete."
Weiss, 54, has worked in state government for 28 years. He was named director of the Department of Finance and Administration in 1994 by then-Gov. Jim Guy Tucker. Before that, Weiss was the finance department's deputy director.
Weiss said he plans to move over to the Human Services Department on July 6, five days after Frazier leaves. Weiss said he had already scheduled a trip to visit his mother in early July and can't take over the agency until after that.
Weiss said the department "clearly needs some help." He said there is a possibility that he may make some personnel changes but he hasn't been given any directives by Huckabee.
In Weiss' absence at the Finance Department, deputy director Tim Leathers will fill in. Weiss said he also plans to be involved in the state budget process, which starts in the fall.
He said he is not sure how he will manage both the budget process and the Department of Human Services.
Information for this article was contributed by Ray Pierce of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.