Panel OKs new contract for firm running youth lockup
June 16, 2005
A legislative panel Wednesday reluctantly signed off on renewing the contract with the company that operates the Alexander Youth Services Center.
During a meeting of the Legislative Council’s Review Subcommittee, lawmakers voiced their anger about the death of a 17-year-old female inmate, who died in April.
State Sen. Terry Smith, D-Hot Springs, said an internal investigation found numerous problems with lack of medical treatment of LaKeisha Brown at the Alexander Youth Services Center. A preliminary autopsy report showed that Brown likely died from a blood clot in her lungs that had possibly moved from her legs. "This is God awful, and then I as a legislator am going to have to review this contract with this company that apparently y’all don’t supervise worth a darn," Smith told officials of the state Department of Human Services and its Youth Services Division. "This was a human life."
The Human Services Department has proposed a $9.5 million one-year contract renewal with Cornell Cos. Inc. of Houston.
The committee voted to "review" the contract. The panel has no power to stop the contract.
Human Services officials said the state still could terminate the contract with four months’ notice under the terms of the renewal, which satisfied some lawmakers.
The committee also decided to require the department to report to the committee by Nov. 1 on the status of the contract.
Lawmakers said they’re irked that the department has asked lawmakers to sign off on the contract renewal after an internal investigation found that a center supervisor did not "adequately" address the medical complaints of Brown, who died on April 9.
Brown was most recently committed to the Alexander center in 2003 after being accused by another inmate of sexual abuse, and Brown later pleaded guilty to rape, according to the department’s file on Brown.
Joe Cardimona of the Youth Services Division, said division officials haven’t made all of their decisions about what to do in the aftermath of Brown’s death.
Regardless, the division must continue to provide services for about 140 youthful offenders at the Alexander Youth Services Center, he said.
Smith replied: "I talked to [DYS Director Kenneth Hales] the other day, and I suggested he get his butt out of his Little Rock office and start going down there and finding out what is wrong with this contractor.
" If y’all need to get rid of the contractor, get rid of ’em, "he said.
" There is bound to be somebody else in the United States who can run this thing without putting the children at risk of dying. [Brown] wasn’t sent down there to die, "he said.
Rex Jones, assistant director of the Department of Human Services’ office of administrative services, said the contract renewal was proposed before Brown’s death, and he understands the frustrations of legislators.
Afterward, Hales said he’s committed to making things work at the Alexander Youth Services Center.
He said Cornell" can and will perform well" and that the company has had success in the past at the Alexander center. He said he has no reason to believe that success will not continue.
Hales said Cornell officials are making improvements that were found to be needed after Brown’s death, such as better training and stricter documentation requirements. Sen. Jimmy Jeffress, D-Crossett, told lawmakers that Brown’s death is a tragic circumstance that couldn’t have come at a worse time.
He said the merger of the Department of Health and the Department of Human Services will become official on Aug. 12, and Kurt Knickrehm, director of the Department of Human Services, has tendered his resignation, effective at the end of this month.
Last week, Knickrehm announced his resignation to take a job as a health-care benefits consultant in Little Rock. Gov. Mike Huckabee has appointed John Selig, a deputy director for the department to succeed Knickrehm.
State Rep. Phil Jackson, R-Berryville, said the Department of Human Services still could renew this contract under state law, even if the legislative committee decided not to complete reviewing the contract extension.
Joe Giddis, the state’s procurement director, said the contract needs to be extended for some period of time because the services provided under the contract are essential to the state. Information for this article was contributed by Amy Upshaw of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.