Filing rips operator of lockup for youths

Investigator says firm ‘negligent’

As its contract ended this summer, the company that operated Arkansas’ juvenile lockup in Dermott provided residents tattered clothing, little protective equipment against covid-19, and no laundry detergent, according to a state ombudsman’s July report.

Another concern was lack of class time, which state and company officials said resulted from covid-19 complications and an internet outage.

Conditions when Youth Opportunity Investments Inc.’s contract ended June 30 were “grossly negligent,” according to a July 2 email sent by Brooke Digby, the state’s juvenile ombudsman, to Youth Opportunity and state officials.

The Dermott Juvenile Correctional Facility in Chicot County is a 40-bed facility for males ages 18-21 and supervised by the state Division of Youth Services (DYS).

“I realize Covid-19 has created many hurdles inside of our DYS facilities, but these conditions appear grossly negligent and violate the youths’ rights,” Digby wrote.

In a response email, Tyrene Green, vice president of program development for Youth Opportunity, rebutted

the allegations.

“Youth Opportunity appreciates Ombudsman Digby for sharing her observation of Dermott,” Green wrote on July 2. “However, Youth Opportunity takes offense once again to her obviously slanted and rhetorical reporting of her observations while at programs.”

The Digby and Green emails were sent to Brian Neupaver, Youth Opportunity’s chief operating officer, as well as several top Youth Services Division officials, a representative from Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s office and the executive director of the Arkansas Public Defender Commission. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette obtained the communications under an open records request.

Youth Opportunity spokesman Gary Sallee declined to comment further on the ombudsman’s report, saying Green and his team investigated the allegations and “his responses tend to show” that they were inaccurate.

The state’s four youth lockups operate under the Division of Youth Services, an arm of the Arkansas Department of Human Services. Offenders are sent under court order when a judge determines that they cannot stay at home.

Indiana-based Youth Opportunity took over control of youth facilities at Dermott, Harrisburg, Lewisville and Mansfield on July 1, 2019.

The company announced in February that it would not renew its contract with the state, citing financial losses caused by fewer youths in lockup than had been anticipated.

Rite of Passage, the Nevada-based firm that had been managing the Division of Youth Services’ facility at Alexander, now has a morethan-$70 million contract to manage the state’s four youth lockups.

The most concerning problem at Dermott was the lack of personal protective equipment such as face masks, Digby wrote.

The Dermott facility has had two total cases of covid-19 among its staff and none among residents, according to Friday data from the Arkansas Department of Health.

“We are in the middle of a pandemic and I could not find one kid on campus with a mask,” Digby wrote of her July 1 visit. “Youth reported they were given masks on one occasion a few weeks ago, but they were disposable and never replaced.”

Green responded that all residents were issued surgical masks and told to ask for more if they lost their masks or needed another.

“The majority of our residents refused to wear the masks that were issued to them,” he wrote. “We cannot force them to wear one.”

Amy Webb, a Department of Human Services spokeswoman, said that when state staff members visited the site July 13, they saw youths wearing masks. Mostly were surgical masks, but some were cloth.

Mike Cantrell, executive director for Rite of Passage, said the group had personal protective equipment on-site when they took over. Webb confirmed that, saying the state was monitoring the supply “very closely.”

Dermott has 60 N95 masks and 400 boxes of 100-count gloves on hand, Webb said. It also has 500 surgical masks, enough to last two months, and Rite of Passage has more personal protective equipment that it can “quickly ship” to Dermott or other facilities, Webb said.

Digby also wrote that “approximately half” of the youths didn’t have socks, and some wore shower shoes for recreational time that were falling apart. Some wore cutoff T-shirts with holes in them, and others had on sweatshirts and sweatpants in the summer heat because they didn’t have other clothing.

Green responded that Youth Opportunity has a “hygiene request process” in place so youths can request items such as shoes, socks and clothing. He added that some youths like to play basketball in their old shoes and that no youths were forced to wear shower shoes.

Rite of Passage bought new clothing and shoes for residents at all of the programs as a matter of policy, Cantrell said.

“We put kids in nice clothes, nice uniforms so that they can feel good about themselves, they can look good and you don’t have to worry about kids having different stuff,” he said.

Digby also said that in addition to youths complaining about not having laundry detergent, the staff confirmed the problem.

Green said laundry detergent had been purchased three times in June, as recently as June 23.

Webb said that in addition to the new clothing, state staff members noted that there was enough laundry detergent at the facility during their July 13 visit.

Digby also confirmed the clean clothing and improved facilities in a July 16 email to Rite of Passage and state officials.

“I was so disappointed about the condition YOI left our youth in; however, I am pleased with the progress ROP has made in just a short amount of time,” she wrote.

Digby also said in her July 2 email about Youth Opportunity that all participants in the General Educational Development program said they hadn’t been in school in about two months. Several needed to take final exams, but those hadn’t been scheduled. Those who attend high school said they were allowed to go only half a day.

Green responded that all of the Virtual Arkansas and GED students attended school in May, and that Virtual Arkansas students had class in June. Because of the pandemic, GED tests were conducted at the Alexander facility, but testing was put on hold in June because of the virus. The internet also was out in the last week of June, which hampered the students’ ability to do school work, he said.

Webb said the pandemic presented challenges, as did the internet outage, but as of July 6, all Dermott students were back in the classroom all day.

Digby wrote in her July 2 email: “I believe in leaving things better than you found them — especially people … and that certainly didn’t happen in this situation.”

Since its 2019 arrival in Arkansas, Youth Opportunity has been the target of three pending lawsuits after an incident at the Lewisville facility. Plaintiffs claimed that children were harmed when staff members disciplined them through measures such as shackling for long periods and slamming them into walls.

Southwest Arkansas Counseling also said in a February letter that it would cancel its contract with Youth Opportunity because of late payments, lack of resources and a hostile work environment.

Southwest then was providing treatment at the Lewisville facility, which has since closed. Rite of Passage and state officials have said they hope to transform it into a substance abuse treatment center for kids.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette