Alexander Youth Services Center
Alexander, Arkansas
Cornell 
December 29, 2005 Benton Courier
A report on the escape of two 17-year-old prisoners in the state youth lockup at Alexander says guards sleeping on the job was one of the reasons the boys were able to break free. The report also says someone inside the facility may have known of the escape plans. Four staff members have been fired from the facility run by the private Cornell Companies. The 12-page report by the state Division of Youth Services says staff members lied about a head count and that a number of guards were asleep when the two escaped. In the short time before Bryant police caught Villegas and Lamberth, the two allegedly burglarized and vandalized Zion Lutheran Church in the Avilla community. The teenagers allegedly stole $140 and took off in the church's van. The report says one of the boys admitted taking a key from the staff desk and unlocking the door to their dorm a week before the escape. The report said the boys got over razor wire by putting a bath mat over it. State Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Julie Munsell said the agency is addressing the problems outlined in the report. "It does show them walking past the staff member who was not moving at the time which indicates perhaps that employee was asleep and, according to interviews with clients, that's what happened at the time," Munsell said. "We had multiple system failures; that's what we really want to address," Munsell said. Munsell said one worker falsified a log "because she did not know how long the youth had been gone. ... She was nervous about the outcome of that." "It is very disconcerting. I think that you have employees exhibiting gross negligence on the job, which is why the expectation is that you take aggressive action," Munsell said.

December 10, 2005 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Two 17-yearold boys face adult prison time, and a private corrections company suspended five employees without pay after an early Friday morning escape from the Alexander Youth Services Center near Bryant. Police said they tracked Benjamin Lamberth and Rusty Villegas as they attempted to flee toward Lamberth's home in Cherokee Village by intercepting cell phone calls, nabbing them about nine hours later in a stolen church van near Cave City. Lamberth and Villegas asked to go to the bathroom, then reportedly bolted through an emergency exit door at Alexander about 1 a. m. They scaled the perimeter fence, draping a shower mat over the razor wire, said Julie Munsell, spokesman for the Department of Human Services. The emergency exit door should have been locked, she said, guessing that the boys had a key. "This was not something spontaneous. They had been planning this for several weeks," she said. Apparently, the teenagers opened the doors without touching a bar that would have triggered a security alarm, she said. Bryant police were not notified until 4 a. m., when the boys were found missing during a routine check. The three hours it took for center officials to realize the boys had escaped will be the subject of an internal investigation. Several security checks should have been made during that period, Munsell said. The state reached a legal agreement with the U. S. Department of Justice in 2003 to eliminate deficits in training and unsafe conditions at the youth lockup. Some minor education and health record issues remain to be resolved before the state can be released from federal supervision, Munsell said Friday. In April 2005, 17-year-old LaKeisha Brown died of blood clots to her lungs while at the center. State and company investigations found lapses in care and violations of state and facility policy in her treatment. A programs supervisor and nursing manager resigned and three employees were disciplined.

October 26, 2005 Record Times
LaKeisha Brown likely had been suffering from blood clots in her lungs for at least two days and possibly as long as two weeks before she collapsed at the Alexander Youth Services Center and then died on April 9, the state medical examiner said Tuesday. A preliminary autopsy report released soon after 17-year-old "Keisha" died listed the cause of death as blood clots from her legs that traveled to her lungs. Last week, her mother, Juana Michelle Brown, gave the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette a copy of the final autopsy report, which she had just received. Autopsies are not public records in Arkansas. Dr. Charles Kokes, the state medical examiner, explained aspects of the final report in an interview Tuesday. "I think if she somehow had been diagnosed in the days prior to her death, it's possible she could have survived," Kokes said, but added that a pulmonary thromboembolism - the medical term for a blood clot in the lungs - can be difficult to detect. Keisha's medical records show that both nurses and some facility managers believed she was faking sickness for attention at the time of her death. An investigation this summer by the state Board of Nursing found that nurses at Alexander did not provide the teenage inmate with adequate medical care in the days before her death and violated facility policy and state nursing laws. Another investigation by the state Youth Services Division found that senior management "was negligent" because it did not ensure systems were in place to provide Keisha the medical care she needed. Because of Keisha's death, the Youth Services Division of the state Department of Health and Human Services uncovered widespread problems with the medical system at the state's largest lockup for youthful offenders, the head of the Youth Services Division told state legislators this summer. The problems, Kenneth Hales explained, have been or are being corrected. For one, the state, which has contracted with the private company Cornell Cos. Inc. to run Alexander, has begun auditing medical files of youths at the facility to ensure they are receiving proper care. Before Keisha's death, the state only audited the company to make sure it was meeting contractual obligations in operating the facility. This summer, Cornell fired two contract nurses, the center's nurse manager and its program supervisor, who also is the second-in-command at the Alexander center, Jane Miller, director of behavioral health services for Cornell, has said. Three other employees were disciplined, and more than a dozen quit. Cornell has apologized for Keisha's death but maintains it is not at fault.

October 22, 2005 Arkansas News
The company that operates Alexander Youth Services Center has revamped many of its medical policies in response to the death of a teenager at the center earlier this year, a company representative said Friday. Testifying before the Arkansas Legislative Council, the employee of Cornell Companies Inc. said more nurses were hired and "sick call" rules for youth housed at the facility were changed following the April death of 17-year-old Lakeisha Brown. A state investigation found nurses at the 349-bed juvenile detention center may not have immediately responded to Brown's health complaints. The cause of Brown's death was a blood clot in her lungs. An investigation by Cornell found no direct link between Brown's death and inaction by Cornell personnel. Four employees resigned and one was fired after the incident. According to Cornell's corrective action plan, no nurses employed at Alexander at the time of Brown's death are still working at the center.

August 11, 2005 AP
The death of a 17-year-old at the Alexander Youth Services Center in April, and the investigation that resulted, uncovered widespread problems at the facility, a state official says. Kenneth Hales, director of the Division of Youth Services in the state Department of Human Services, told state legislators Wednesday that "systematic weaknesses" turned up when officials took a close look at the circumstances of LaKeisha Brown's April 7 death, after she had collapsed at the youth lockup from a blood clot in her lungs. "It was not just LaKeisha," Hales said. Investigations showed that staff members violated the policies of the facility, operated under contract by Cornell Companies Inc. of Houston, as well as DHS regulations and state regulations for nurses. Julie Munsell, a spokesman for the agency, said DHS had regularly audited the Alexander center to confirm that Cornell was meeting its contractual obligations. But she said those auditors were not trained to evaluate the medical procedures and policies being used by the company. "That is something that we have had to ask for some additional assistance to evaluate, because our auditors are not clinicians," Munsell said. "The audit is just not designed to do that." Hales told the Legislature's Joint Performance Review Committee that a review of procedures showed that, when an inmate reported being sick, "it was difficult to tell what the response to that sick call was." "When the nurses examined a youth, you couldn't tell what they saw or what they concluded to do following that examination," he said. The investigations also found that nurses at the facility lacked supervision, were poorly trained and weren't given good instruction on what their supervisors expected of them, Hales said.

August 3, 2005 AP
Two top managers lost their jobs at a state youth lockup where a teenager died and three other employees received reprimands, according to the private firm that runs the facility. Houston-based Cornell Cos. Inc. also said Tuesday that, in response to the April death of 17-year-old LaKeisha Brown, it had put in place an action plan that includes better orientation and training procedures for all staff and an organizational chart with clearly defined lines of authority. DHS spokesman Julie Munsell said Tuesday evening that Cornell officials had informed the agency that program director Joann McCoy and nurse manager Polly King were no longer employed at the Alexander center. She said the officials did not say whether the two were fired or resigned. Additionally, three employees received written reprimands: licensed practical nurses Holly Clark and Kim Clough and an unnamed member of the facility's clerical staff, Munsell said. The company found more than a dozen problems with Brown's care. Among them were: The center's top managers did not adequately review Brown's care after her death and nurses inadequately responded to her when she collapsed repeatedly and complained of shortness of breath and exhaustion in the days and hours before her death.

July 28, 2005 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Disciplinary action expected against some employees at Alexander Youth Services Center for the way they handled 17-year-old LaKeisha Brown has been delayed, a spokesman for a private company that runs the youth lockup facility for the state said Wednesday. Cornell Cos. Inc. spokesman Lisa Tauser had said Tuesday that a team of company employees were meeting that night to implement personnel changes recommended after the Houston-based company investigated the April 9 death of "Keisha." In a report released Tuesday, a team of Cornell employees suggested the company suspend nurses who responded to or cared for Keisha when she collapsed repeatedly and complained of shortness of breath and exhaustion in the last days and hours of her life. A preliminary autopsy report shows that Keisha died of blood clots to the lungs. The team also said "senior management" should be held "strictly accountable" for failing to ensure the necessary systems were in place so that Keisha would receive the proper medical care. An unidentified clerical employee also should be "disciplined" and placed under stricter supervision for making a decision about Keisha's care without calling a doctor or nurse, the report shows. Cornell's investigation found more than a dozen problems with her care. The team noted that the facility's top managers did not adequately review Keisha's care after her death and that nurses "inadequately" addressed Keisha's medical concerns. Her records show that the nurses did not believe she was really sick and did not call a doctor until she was unconscious. Keisha had been at Alexander, the state's largest juvenile lockup, for nearly two years after being adjudicated for drug possession, rape and inciting a riot. Last week, the State Board of Nursing released a report saying that six nurses at the center violated state nursing regulations in the way they dealt with Keisha. The board now is conducting additional investigations to determine discipline for each nurse.

July 27, 2005 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Senior management at Alexander Youth Services Center should be "held accountable" for failing to ensure 17-year-old LaKeisha Brown received the proper care before she died, and nurses there should be suspended for inadequately addressing her needs, a private company that runs the facility for the state has decided.  A clerical employee working in the facility's medical unit also should be "disciplined" and placed under stricter supervision for making a decision about the care Keisha received without consulting a doctor or nurse, according to a Cornell Cos. Inc. report released by the Department of Human Services on Tuesday evening.  Facility Director Bob McCracken, a Cornell employee, did not return a message for comment Tuesday.  The recommendation to dole out punishment is part of a twopage report detailing the investigation Cornell conducted last month of its own operations after Keisha died April 9 of a suspected blood clot to the lungs. Cornell's investigation comes after critical investigations by the state Division of Youth Services and the Arkansas State Board of Nursing, both of which found that employees and nurses broke protocol in the way they handled Keisha. Cornell's investigation, conducted by a team of employees of the Houston-based company, found more than a dozen problems with her care. The team noted that the facility's top managers did not adequately review Keisha's care after her death.  The Cornell investigation also found that nurses at the facility "inadequately" responded to Keisha's needs when she collapsed repeatedly and complained of shortness of breath and exhaustion in the days and hours before her death. Keisha's medical records show that the nurses did not believe she was really sick and did not call a doctor until she was unconscious. Keisha had been at Alexander, the state's largest juvenile lock-up, for nearly two years after being adjudicated for drug possession, rape and inciting a riot.  The report also states that the facility's ability to handle medical emergencies at the time was "inadequate or nonexistent," that "senior management" was negligent when it failed to ensure all systems were in place to provide Keisha with the care she needed and that nurses were more focused on dealing with Keisha's complaints internally than evaluating her medical condition. The Nursing Board investigated the actions of nurses at the facility. Last week, the board released a report saying that six nurses at the center violated state nursing regulations in the way they dealt with Keisha.  The Nursing Board is now conducting additional investigations to determine what discipline each nurse will receive and whether they will be able to keep their licenses.  State legislators also have been critical of the company. In the past two months, they have called for additional investigations into Keisha's death, leading to the Nursing Board report. Other legislators suggested that the state find another company to oversee the Alexander center, but no such action has been taken.

July 25, 2005 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Now that we know that workers at Alexander Youth Services Center broke the rules, what are we going to do about it?
Someone in a position of real power and authority ought to be asking this question, because breaking rules is serious business, you know. Break enough of them, or at least the wrong ones, and somebody could get hurt or even die.
Which, of course, somebody did. Her name was LaKeisha Brown. She was 17. The official cause was blood clots in her lungs, but just between us, I believe she was ignored to death.  The state Board of Nursing has completed its inquiry and found that a state law and several regulations were violated by some of Keisha's purported caretakers. Altogether, four staff nurses and two contract nurses were identified as being involved in one or more of the infractions.  In case you missed reporter Amy Upshaw's comprehensive report, found in Thursday's editions, here are the highlights of the board's inquiry.  No evidence has been found that the registered nurses on duty when Brown repeatedly collapsed before succumbing were supervising the licensed practical nurses on the scene.  Three of the workers who assessed Keisha's condition and made decisions about her (lack of) medical care were LPNs, not RNs as required.  Five workers knowingly or consistently failed to accurately or intelligibly report or document Keisha's condition. Five staffers failed to notify the designated physician of Keisha's worsening condition over the course of three days.  Now that this inquiry is over, what's next? According to Upshaw's report, the nursing board now plans to investigate each nurse's particular involvement in the case with an eye toward considering whether to take some action against them. Isn't that special?  OK, so due process is the path we follow in these parts, and it's better to take things one step at a time rather than jump the gun. But a 17-year-old girl is dead and someone needs to answer for that. Clearly, state law enforcement officials, who also investigated this "sudden" death that was several days in coming, have closed the books on it and no prosecutors have been heard from. Apparently, continued investigation by the nursing board is the only avenue still open.  State Sen. Shane Broadway, one of the handful of lawmakers who have expressed shock and outrage at Keisha's death, the details of which were first publicized by Upshaw, understands that there are two points of concern here. The first, obviously, is the death of one person. The second is the quality of the care given to others still in her circumstances, i.e., consigned against their will to the juvenile detention facility at Alexander.  "You're talking about a lot of children's lives," Broadway said last week. "The quality of care is very important. It's important that we treat each child even though they have many difficulties. They're still in state custody, and they are our responsibility." I suppose technically they are in state custody. Practically speaking, they are in the custody of people who work for a private company that operates Alexander under a contract with the state. And the private company, Cornell Companies Inc., of Houston, Texas, doesn't seem too exercised about the situation. Oh, they say that they're "very sorry" about Keisha's death, of course, and that "corrections and revisions" are being made to policies and procedures, but so far the company honchos have mad e no decisions concerning personnel.  I'm very sorry Keisha is dead, too. I'm very sorry every time someone confined at Alexander dies. What I want to know is when someone in authority is going to do something about it. Apparently there is no such person at this time, so it's up to us, the voting public, to find someone. It'll take time-the next election is more than a year away-but if we start with the next prosecutorial, legislative or gubernatorial candidate we meet, if we ask that person what he or she intends to do to make Alexander fit for human habitation, and if we keep asking this of candidates, we'll get it cleaned up.  Frankly, I don't hold out much hope. I've been writing about that hell hole for almost a quarter-century, so my main consolation today is that I won't be around long enough to do it for a quarter-century more. But hope dies hard. There must be someone somewhere who expects more for tackling the Alexander problem than a cush ride on a fast track to higher office.

July 21, 2005 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
The state Board of Nursing has found that the way six nurses at the state's largest juvenile lockup handled 17-year-old LaKeisha Brown as she fell ill and died violated a state nursing law and several regulations, according to a report released Wednesday afternoon.  The Nursing Board, which was asked by state officials to investigate how the nurses dealt with Brown, now plans to investigate each nurse's involvement in her care at Alexander Youth Services Center and could discipline them or revoke their licenses, said Deborah Jones, assistant director of nursing practices for the state.

As of Wednesday evening, all six nurses still were working at the Alexander center, said Lisa Tauser, a spokesman for Cornell Cos. Inc., the Houston-based private company that runs the lockup as a contractor for the state. The company still is trying to decide whether any of the nurses or other employees should be punished regarding the April 9 death.  Meanwhile, the Arkansas Medical Society, which was asked to review pediatrician Robert Choate's involvement in Brown's care, said it was not "possible" to do so because the nurses failed to tell Choate about her worsening condition on April 7, 8 or 9. Choate could not be reached Wednesday for comment.  Among the Nursing Board's findings: There's no evidence that the registered nurses on duty when Brown repeatedly collapsed before her death "supervised" the licensed practical nurses, who have less training and are required by the Arkansas Nurse Practice Act to work under RNs, physicians or other more qualified medical professionals.  Five nurses violated facility policy and the Board of Nursing rules and regulations for "knowingly or consistently failing to accurately or intelligibly report or document a patient's symptoms, responses, progress, medications and/or treatment."  Five nurses violated center policy and Nursing Board rules and showed "unprofessional conduct" by failing to notify Choate of Brown's condition.  A Youth Services Division internal investigation into her death found evidence that facility employees violated several policies in the days and hours before her death. On the day Brown died, for example, a supervisor dismissed an employee's request to call an ambulance, and nurses did not call a doctor until Brown was unconscious.

July 8, 2005 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
A private company that runs the Alexander Youth Services Center for the state released details Thursday about how it will address problems found after the April death of 17-year-old inmate LaKeisha Brown, but the company has yet to decide whether any employees will be disciplined for how they treated her.  Any disciplinary action or personnel changes will take another three months, according to a letter and a preliminary corrective-action plan the company sent the state Youth Services Division on July 1. Some are calling for a more speedy decision.  The plan shows that Houston-based Cornell Cos. Inc. will provide additional training for employees, require more extensive documentation about medical complaints and treatments, and conduct medical emergency drills.  The company also will require nurses to consult a doctor if an inmate complains about the same symptoms twice in a 24-hour period, as "Keisha" did.  Though Keisha's mother and legislators say they are happy that Cornell is learning from what happened, they believe the company needs to hold someone accountable for the poor decisions made regarding Keisha's medical care.  "I am appalled about them not reprimanding anyone. How long will it take?" Keisha's mother, Juana Michelle Brown, said Thursday evening. "You need to go ahead and do something because you're saying, `It's OK' about what happened."  State Sen. Sue Madison also said Cornell is moving too slowly. "They should have started that process the minute she died," Madison, D-Fayetteville, said.  A Youth Services Division internal investigation into her death found evidence that facility employees violated several policies in the days and hours before her death. On the day Keisha died, for example, a supervisor dismissed an employee's request to call Keisha an ambulance, and nurses did not call a doctor until Keisha was unconscious.  As a result of its investigation, the state asked Cornell to provide a plan within 30 days detailing how they would better train employees and ensure better documentation is kept regarding medical concerns and treatment. The corrective action plan released Thursday is in response to the state's request.  The Arkansas State Police also investigated Keisha's death but found no criminal wrongdoing.  When legislators learned details of the last days of Keisha's life, some called for additional investigations into her medical treatment and suggested the state find another company to oversee the Alexander facility.  "Somebody needs to answer for what happened to Keisha," Madison said. "If they were following proper procedures, then they better change their procedures. If they weren't, then there ought to be some ramifications there.  "Surely, surely, their proper procedures are better than the way she was treated," she said.

June 18, 2005 The Associated Press State & Local Wire
A Houston-based company responsible for managing the Alexander Youth Services Center has apologized for the death of a female teenage inmate who died while in Arkansas custody. "On behalf of my company and all of the employees at Alexander, we're sorry," said Jane Miller, director of behavioral health services for Cornell Cos. Inc. "There's nothing more horrible than a child dying in our care." LaKeisha Brown, 17, died from a blood clot that traveled to her lungs on April 9. The girl was to be released May 1. An internal investigation by the Arkansas Department of Human Service's youth division suggested that medical personnel and others at the center may not have responded properly to the girl's repeated complaints about her health condition.

June 16, 2005 AP
The state fired a prison guard for having sex with an inmate. Now, the man has been hired by state- and county-run youth lockups. John Berry, 40, monitors children part-time at the Alexander Youth Services Center, which the state runs through a private contractor, and full-time at the juvenile detention center in Pine Bluff, a Jefferson County facility. Berry has denied allegations from an internal affairs investigation that he had sex with an inmate at the Tucker maximum security prison. The 16-year Department of Correction employee rose to the rank of sergeant before he was fired in October 2002. Alexander Youth Services director Bob McCracken was surprised when asked Wednesday by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper about Berry's rehiring Wednesday. He said a criminal background check, a child-molestation registry check and reference checks were conducted on Berry and turned up nothing.

June 16, 2005 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
State legislators Wednesday were critical of Alexander Youth Services Center employees responsible for 17-year-old LaKeisha Brown on the day she died and said her death should be investigated further. "No one was satisfied with the results of the investigation so far," Sen. Sue Madison, D- Fayetteville, said of the Youth Services Division internal investigation into the case. "I think we are going to be monitoring Alexander a lot more closely." The Youth Services Division investigation found credible evidence that employees violated several policies in the days and hours before "Keisha" died. Specifically, the investigator found that a supervisor dismissed an employee's request to call an ambulance for Keisha and that nurses did not call a doctor for Keisha when they should have. But no one has been disciplined in connection with her death. The private company that runs the Alexander lockup, Cornell Cos. Inc., has been asked by the state to better train employees and to ensure that better documentation is kept in regard to medical concerns and treatment. "Why hasn't someone been terminated?" Madison asked after a joint meeting of the Senate Committee on Children and Youth and the House interim Committee on Aging and Legislative Affairs. "The nurse just turned a deaf ear to this because she was tired of her." Madison said neither Cornell nor the Youth Services Division provided her with the internal investigation or detailed information about Keisha's death. Instead, she found details from reading the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Keisha, who had lived at the lockup for youthful offenders for nearly two years, collapsed at least three times and complained of tiredness during the two days before her April 9 death, records show. However, nurses said nothing was wrong with her. On the day she died, Keisha could barely walk or get out of bed, according to records. She had lost color in her lips and complained of being cold, having difficulty breathing and of being tired. Again, the nurse said everything was fine. A preliminary autopsy report shows that Keisha died of a blood clot in her lungs.As legislators peppered Hales and McCracken with questions, Sen. Terry Smith, D-Hot Springs, interrupted the meeting so the two officials could speak to a committee down the hall that was reviewing Cornell's contract. "From one oil pan to another," Smith told Hales and McCracken. As he walked to the other meeting, Smith said he wants to end Cornell's contract with the state because of the way Keisha was treated. "What happened was totally unprofessional. They didn't follow their own protocols," he said. "[Keisha] wasn't sent down there with a death sentence. Madison also said Scott Tanner, a juvenile-services ombudsman with the state Public Defender Commission, could have done more to help Keisha. "It seems to me that your office was created to prevent this kind of incident," she said. "Something doesn't seem to be working here."

April 16, 2005 Arkansas Democrat Gazette
A day after Lakeisha Brown collapsed at the Alexander Youth Services Center and died, her mother, Juana, found a white envelope with penciled script on the dresser at the family’s home in Luxora. The return address: Keisha Brown, Alexander, Ark. Keisha, as she was known to her family, had written the letter to her maternal grandmother, Elizabeth "Granny Pooh" Brown, on Feb. 19. At the time, "Granny Pooh" clung to life on round-the clock oxygen in a hospital. So Juana kept the letter but didn’t open it, respecting the bond her mother and daughter shared. But now she had to know what her only daughter had written. "Hey Granny Pooh," Keisha begins, drawing a smiley face next to the salutation. Three lines in, the letter turns somber. "Things are getting a little shaky for me. I plan on hanging in there though.... I been sick a lot lately. These nurses suck here. My back hurts a lot. When I breathe a certain way it hurts in my left rib. They tell me I’m not hurting but I stay strong anyhow." Forty-nine days later, on April 9, 17-year-old Keisha Brown died at Southwest Regional Medical Center in Little Rock from a blood clot that traveled to her lungs, according to a preliminary cause of death released Friday by Pulaski County Coroner Mark Malcolm. Elizabeth and Juana Brown wonder whether Keisha received the medical care she needed during her two-year stint at Alexander, the state’s largest juvenile jail. Scott Tanner, a juvenile services ombudsman with the state Public Defender Commission, said Keisha complained to him within the last nine months that she wasn’t receiving proper treatment for the irregular periods. Nurses monitored Keisha, Tanner said, but it took two months to get center medical staff to send her to a gynecologist. The U.S. Department of Justice criticized the Alexander unit in a November 2002 report for violations of several civil rights, including the right to religious freedom, mental health treatment, educational services and a safe environment. State officials signed a settlement with the Justice Department in March 2003 agreeing to correct problems found. In addition, the Youth Services Division conducted an internal review Oct. 4 that found several problems, including a delay in responding to medical needs. The youth lockup is operated by a private company called Cornell Cos. Inc.

June 5, 2003
Four teenagers who escaped from the state’s largest youth lockup face from 10 years to life in prison if convicted of felony kidnapping counts filed against them Wednesday.  The four youths — three age 17 and one age 15 — are accused of locking a worker at the Alexander Youth Services Center inside a cell during the April 10 escape.  On Wednesday facility director Bob McCracken said some of those improvements already have been made. For example, security personnel now take the keys of all visitors and personnel before they enter the facility. Installation of extra lighting and a new guard building also have been completed, Mc-Cracken said.  The April escape was the second since Cornell took over the Bryant facility in September 2001. The first happened the evening of March 16, 2002, when authorities said two 16-year-olds broke away from a group of inmates and ran from the facility.  (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

June 4, 2003
The last of four juvenile inmates who escaped from the Alexander lockup nearly two months ago was arrested early Tuesday morning, the state Department of Human Services said.  North Little Rock police caught Tony Brooks, 17, of Pulaski County after a pursuit. Relatives turned in the other escapees shortly after the escape.  Saline County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Herzfeld said Tuesday that he planned to file charges today. The four are expected to be arraigned Thursday on felony counts of escape, criminal mischief, theft of property and false imprisonment, he said.  The group fled the lockup on April 10 after they overpowered a guard, locked him in a cell and stole a car, which they crashed through the lockup’s front gates.  Brooks had been held on a charge of carrying a prohibited weapon.  (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

April 11, 2003
Four inmates at the state’s largest youth lockup escaped early Thursday morning after threatening a guard, stealing her car and driving it through the facility’s front gate, authorities said.  Two of the four teenage boys who escaped from Alexander Youth Services Center were caught several hours later. Authorities, however, believe the remaining escapees, ages 17 and 15, had a gun and could be dangerous. "There is concern that they feel desperate enough to do something bad," said Julie Munsell, a spokesman for the Department of Human Services, which oversees the lockup. "We hope not. The hope is that they do not hurt or injure anyone  Alexander holds about 140 youths, including the state’s most dangerous juvenile offenders. The lockup is situated at Bryant in Saline County.  "From the initial details, it looks like it was planned at least to some extent," said Bob McCracken, Alexander’s director, adding that no employees were injured.  McCracken said it is too early to determine whether the escape represents a shortcoming in security at Alexander, which is managed by a private corporation — Cornell Cos. Inc. "It’s not a facility designed to be like Tucker," McCracken said, referring to one of the state’s maximum-security prisons in answer to a question about possible holes in security. "It’s the most secure juvenile facility in the state. But it’s still a facility designed for juveniles."  Alexander has had a history of problems managing the state’s youthful offenders. In 2001, two teenagers killed themselves only a few months apart. Since spring 2002, the U.S. Department of Justice has been investigating possible violations of inmates’ civil rights at the lockup.  In March the Youth Services Division, Cornell and the Justice Department agreed to a court settlement that required improvements in education, mental health care and fire safety.  Thursday’s escape was the second in just over a year. When two 16-year-olds escaped March 16, 2002, neighbors of the lockup complained they had not been notified. The teenagers scaled the fence and were found early the next morning.  (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

February 14, 2003
Failure to deal properly with allegations of abuse of two teen-age boys at the state's largest youth lockup have resulted in the dismissal of four workers.  The three life-skills workers and a treatment supervisor at the Alexander Youth Services Center were fired last month after a Department of Human Services investigator looked into the matter.  The boys, 16 and 17 years old, were reportedly taken from the facility's main campus to the high risk offender unit Dec. 16 after they had misbehaved.  The two boys said that, once there, they were put in a small room with about seven other inmates who threatened them, and one of the two reported being hit, though no marks were found.  A report issued this week also said that the boys said the other youngsters in the high-risk unit threatened to sodomize them with a broom handle.  DHS investigator Gary Staggs found "credible evidence" that two members of the Alexander center's supervisory staff failed to report the allegations or failed to ensure that they were reported.  The actions described in the report also violated the policies of Cornell Companies Inc., the private, Houston-based company that began running the Alexander center for the state in 2001.  The state pays Cornell about $13 million a year.  One state legislator said Thursday that some "harsh action" should be taken as a result of the Dec. 16 episode.  "That's such a primitive method, you would expect a private provider that held itself out to be the most professional and experienced organization... would never let that type of situation exist.  But it has," said state Rep. Jay Bradford, D-White Hall.  One of the terminated employees, Matthew Williams, 41, killed himself last week after fatally shooting his estranged wife and another man at a Little Rock residence.  (AP)

February 3, 2003
Arkansas State Police are investigating an incident at the Alexander Youth Services Center involving alleged scare tactics that led to the firing of three employees. The employees, along with a supervisor who first looked into the incident, were fired last week after accusations that they used prohibited scare tactics on two youths on Dec. 16. In a letter to legislators, state juvenile ombudsman Scott Tanner wrote that a 16- and 17-year-old each was misbehaving and taken to the high-risk offender unit and the youths were confronted by eight other youths. Internal reports say that the group of eight was allowed to verbally scare the pair about life in a unit that houses youths who have committed violent crimes. The entity that runs the center, Cornell Cos., said neither of the boys was harmed, although one claims he was hit in the head. Tanner, who visits the facility weekly, said he informed legislators because he felt the youths were put in peril. "The General Assembly needs to know about incidents that not only put juveniles at risk, but put the state at risk," Tanner said. Facility director Bob McCracken said Cornell prohibits the alleged tactics. "We really focus on treating the kids with dignity and respect and helping them get better," McCracken said. Investigations by the Arkansas State Police and the state Youth Services Division are also ongoing as to why it took Cornell officials until Dec. 20 to report the incident. Houston-based Cornell runs the youth lockup under a contract with the Youth Services Division of the state Department of Human Services. The Alexander lockup has been plagued by problems. The Justice Department is investigating the center after a series of problems in recent years, state officials said. In November, a counselor at the lockup resigned after she was charged with making up credentials. In October, a state investigation concluded that Cornell failed to supervise inmates at risk of suicide while the staff conducted a meeting. A 15-year-old boy hanged himself on Sept. 15, 2001 . That death came after a 16-year-old died the previous May in the same cell and by the same method, while a guard was supposed to have been watching him. In August, a DYS guard was convicted of third-degree battery in a case involving a juvenile inmate at Alexander. (Go Memphis)

November 23, 2002
A counselor at a youth lockup who resigned after questions arose about her qualifications has been charged with making up credentials.  Carolyn Skaggs was a counselor at the Alexander Youth Services Center, but resigned after officials found out she didn't have a counseling license, as she had claimed.  Cornell Companies Inc. of Houston runs the youth lockup under a contract with the Youth Services Division of the state Department of Human Services.  The Saline County prosecutor's office filed a misdemeanor charge against Skaggs last week.  The Alexander lockup has been plagued by problems.  The Justice Department is investigating the center after a series of problems in recent years, state officials said.  (AP)

October 3, 2002
The Justice Department is investigating the state's Alexander Youth Services Center after a series of problems at the facility, a state official said Wednesday. Doyle Herndon, director of the Division of Youth Services of the state Department of Human Services, told a legislative committee Wednesday the agency is enacting new policies to quell concerns about the Alexander facility and to offer incarcerated youth more rehabilitative programs. Herndon said Justice Department officials began the investigation after visiting the Alexander facility in June. Justice Department spokesman Casey Stavropoulos said the investigation would fall under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act and is meant to "see if there's a pattern or practice of misconduct." In October, a state investigation concluded that Cornell Companies Inc. of Houston, which runs the Alexander center under a DYS contract, failed to supervise inmates at risk of suicide while the staff conducted a meeting. (Go Memphis)

September 30, 2002
Is the Youth Services Center at Alexander snake-bit or what? Last week, the chronically troubled facility was back in the news because the folks contracted to run it for the state hired an unqualified person for a position of great responsibility, clinical supervisor. According to the state Nursing Board, the center's personnel director was warned before hiring her that Carolyn Skaggs' nursing license had been revoked in August 2001 and that she lacked a master's degree in psychology. The nursing license is not a prerequisite for the job. The master's degree is. Skaggs was hired anyway, and before resigning about five weeks later after someone finally questioned her credentials, she'd already "counseled" 15 youthful offenders housed at the center and testified at one court hearing. Not as an "expert" witness, we can only hope. The contractor, Cornell Companies Inc., took more than a year to fill the post occupied by Skaggs from July 15 to Aug. 20 of this year. It is understandable, then, that she was not properly vetted before hiring. Not acceptable, but understandable. Having a full-time psychologist to oversee behavioral health services--counseling--at Alexander is one of the requirement's of Cornell's state contract, and someone must have been getting mighty desperate after a yearlong search. But despite later claims from Alexander's director, Bob McCracken, that officials conducted a criminal background check, a child mistreatment registry check and a reference check and "all that stuff came back fine," no one thought to check her educational and professional credentials. Had they done so, they might have discovered sooner rather than later that both the license and the master's degree she showed them apparently were bogus. The position Skaggs held is critically important, not only because of the supervisory responsibilities but because of complexity and severity of the problems that afflict Alexander's adolescent population. Alexander is what is known in polite company as a "youth lockup," the largest in Arkansas. Most, if not all, of the young people there have serious behavioral and emotional "issues." For many, Alexander is the last stop before prison. Others stand at least a fighting chance of rehabilitation if they get the proper treatment. In any case, placing their mental and emotional health in the wrong hands is tantamount to throwing them to the wolves. There is absolutely no excuse for the sloppy hiring process that put a non-credentialed, unqualified person in this key position. According to the state Nursing Board's decision revoking Skaggs' license last year--she was then going by the name Carolyn Sue Okrie--she was found to have altered her licensed practical nurse certificate on two separate occasions to read "registered nurse" and to have obtained at least two jobs by claiming to have a master's degree in applied psychology. Reportedly, she made the same claims to snag the job at Alexander. By the way, Skaggs' former employers at Cornell told our reporter, Traci Shurley, last week that since the controversy erupted, they had been unable to verify her educational background. Shurley was able to verify one thing--the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which Skaggs claimed had issued her master's degree, has no record of anyone named Carolyn Okrie or Carolyn Skaggs ever being enrolled there. At this writing, no one from the Huckabee administration has expressed much concern about the situation. "I really think this is still an issue between Cornell and their personnel person," said Julie Munsell, a spokesman for the state Department of Human Services, which was in charge of screwing things up at Alexander before passing the buck--more than 13 million bucks a year, actually--to Cornell last September. That's precisely what some politicians and bureaucrats like about privatization; when things go wrong, they can blame someone else. "This is not the normal way that we run Alexander or any of our other facilities," David Monroe, a spokesman for Cornell, said last week. I earnestly hope not. The troubled young people housed at Alexander could use a break. Associate Editor Meredith Oakley is editor of the Voices page. (The Arkansas Democrat Gazette)

September 25, 2002
A woman hired in July to supervise counseling at the state's largest youth lockup saw about 15 youths and testified in one court hearing before officials say they learned her credentials were fake. Carolyn Skaggs resigned Aug. 20 after an employee at Alexander Youth Services Center questioned whether she was licensed, as she claimed and even provided a wallet-sized license card as proof, said Bob McCracken, director of the facility. Her resignation leaves Cornell Companies Inc., the Houston company that runs the facility, still searching for a full-time psychologist, a requirement of Cornell's $13 million annual contract with the state. Cornell hired Skaggs on July 15 after searching nearly a year for a qualified psychologist to oversee counseling services for the 130-140 youths housed there each day. Skaggs, who was stripped of her nursing license in August 2001, never had a counseling license, and Cornell officials now say they can't even verify her educational background. State Rep. Jo Ellen Carson, D-Fort Smith, said the situation with Skaggs is especially disappointing because the state hired Cornell in September 2001 to bring a better level of service to the troubled center. "Given the history and then the immediate problems Cornell experienced when they came in, including a suicide, you'd think that every decision they made would be backed up by double checks," said Carson, a member of the House Juvenile Justice Subcommittee. Less than a month after Cornell took over, a 16-year-old boy hanged himself in the serious offender unit. The U.S. Department of Justice also began an investigation earlier this year into mental health care, safety and education services at the center in Saline County. A report detailing the investigation's findings is expected within a few months. Upon learning that Arkansas law requires people calling themselves counselors to be licensed with the Arkansas Board of Examiners in Counseling, Cornell officials also changed the titles of four employees previously referred to as "master's level counselors," McCracken said. He said those changes arose from an "issue with job titles" and not anyone purposely misrepresenting himself. Arkansas Code 17-27-104 says anyone "engaged in the practice of counseling or marriage and family therapy" without a license may be found guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $ 1,000 fine. After notification of Skaggs' position at Alexander, the board sent both Alexander and Skaggs a cease-and-desist order. The board demanded that she stop using the title "counselor," said Dr. Ann Thomas, executive director of the licensing board. Saline County Prosecuting Attorney Barbara Webb confirmed Tuesday that a complaint had been filed with her office. However, she said, a decision on whether to charge Skaggs has not been made. Faith Fields, director of the Arkansas Nursing Board, said Skaggs, then using the name Carolyn Sue Okrie, was a licensed practical nurse until August 2001. The board revoked her license at that time after determining that she had altered it twice to read "registered nurse." The final decision in the disciplinary case also said she had misrepresented her credentials to gain employment with the Levi Hospital in Hot Springs and Correctional Medical Services in Pine Bluff. The decision also says Skaggs told officials at Correctional Medical Services she had a master's degree in applied psychology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She made the same claim to Cornell, even providing a copy of a diploma, McCracken said. (The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

August 27, 2002
The director at Alexander Youth Services Center recently sat down side by side on a bunk with a teen-age boy at the serious-offender unit, quietly talking about the boy's troubles.  Less than two years ago, the Alexander center had been beset with two highly publicized suicides as well as allegations of abuse and mismanagement.  McCracken is part of a team that began running the lockup last September, as the state turned to a private company, Cornell Cos. Inc., to bring in reforms and higher standards.  Plenty of other interested parties are following Cornell's progress, including state legislatures and the U.S. Department of Justice, which recently began an investigation into the facility's health, safety, and educational policies.  Legislatures have also quizzed company officials about whether Cornell is meeting the terms of its contract with the state.  Though progress has been made, the company hasn't followed through on all the improvements they promised, said state Rep. Jay Bradfor, D-Pine Bluff, one of a group of legislatures who has monitored Cornell's takeover.  "On a scale of 1 to 10, they're at a 6, and they ought to be at a nine," Bradford said, noting that the education curriculum needs improvement.  "The change in the culture is going to take some time," said Scott Tanner, who as youth ombudsman coordinator for the state bears responsibility for the state's monitoring of the Youth Services Division.  Just 6 months ago, Tanner warned that "the current conditions are ripe for tragedy," especially in the Juvenile Upward Mobility Program, which houses serious youthful offenders.  As Cornell continues to search for a training coordinator, Tanner worries staff members aren't being schooled in appropriate ways to deal with every situation.  Judging from a list of documents the U.S. Justice Department recently requested, it's apparently an area investigators are exploring as well.  (The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

May 26, 2002
In the suicide letter he left in a cell at Alexander Youth Services Center a little more than a year ago, 16-year-old James Baumbach Jr. said one last time what he felt the staff there refused to hear -- he needed help. The help didn't arrive in time to prevent him from hanging himself with a bed sheet tied to an overhead sprinkler cover. Officials acknowledge Baumbach, who was placed on suicide watch days before he carried out his threats, wasn't monitored as he should have been. State officials admitted at the time that the facility's suicide prevention plan hadn't been followed. A guard responsible for monitoring Baumbach eventually was convicted of falsifying logbooks and fired. But the admitted bungling did not bring measures to prevent another suicide, and neither did turning management of the facility over to a private company, Houston-based Cornell Inc. On Sept. 16, less than a month after Cornell took over from the Department of Human Services, 15-year-old Kenneth McClain II committed suicide by hanging himself in the same cell where Baumbach took his own life. Cornell officials still haven't hired a full-time psychologist, as the company's contract with the state requires, he said, adding the facility also needs to provide more group and individual counseling. Since Cornell took over in September, finding qualified workers has been difficult, company officials say. Cornell officials still haven't hired a full-time psychologist, as the company's contract with the state requires, he said, adding the facility also needs to provide more group and individual counseling. Since Cornell took over in September, finding qualified workers has been difficult, company officials say. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

April 19, 2002
A private company that runs the state's historically troubled Alexander youth lockup clearly has improved conditions there since it took over late last year, a watchdog agency official told lawmakers Thursday. Scott Tanner, coordinator of the state Juvenile Ombudsman Division, noted that Cornell Companies of Houston still hasn't filled key jobs to train new employees and supervise delivery of psychological services to inmates. Tom Jenkins, Cornell's senior vice president and chief operating officer, testified Thursday before two legislative committees that deal with children's issues. The Youth Services Division struggled in 1998. There were reports of sexual and physical abuse of children in the state's care. Three boys have committed suicide since 1997 at youth lockups, two last year at the Alexander center and one of those occurred after Cornell was in charge. The state Department of Education in January threatened to withhold $2 million in education funds from the division's parent agency, the Department of Human Services, unless the division showed progress toward meeting federal special-education regulations. The most recent reported lapse in suicide-prevention procedures at the Alexander center was Oct. 19, 2001, about a month after Kenneth McClain, 15, hanged himself using a sheet in his cell. A state investigation found that while Cornell workers attended a staff meeting Oct. 19, there was not proper supervision of youths who had been identified as suicide risks. The previous day, Jenkins assured lawmakers that in the wake of McClain's suicide, "we have people watching the people watching the people." Sen. Kevin Smith, D-Helena, on Thursday reminded Jenkins of his assurances. He asked whether Jenkins could confidently make them now. "That's the infamous comment that I will never live down, will I?" Jenkins responded. "We've had some mistakes, and we've had some malfeasance. Where malfeasance has been there, we've made some immediate steps to remove people from our employment." Regarding the special-education rules, a state Department of Education official told legislators that some progress has been made, although the Alexander center is still not in compliance. In terms of overall compliance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Cornell and the division "still have a long, long way to go," he said. According to a 73-page report presented to lawmakers by Cornell, noncompliance issues include reporting serious incidents at the Alexander center to the division within one hour, forwarding a youth's records once he leaves the facility, and developing plans to help keep youths from relapsing into previous violent or substance-abuse behaviors. (The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

April 9, 2002
Two teen-agers accused of escaping from a youth lockup last month will appear  in court April 22 for a judge to consider transferring their cases to juvenile  court.  Stephen Andrew Menasco of Conway and Bennie David Guy of Marion are accused of  breaking away from a group of inmates at Alexander Youth Services Center about 7:30 p.m. March 16. They were apprehended the next morning about 6:30 a.m. in  Bryant. (The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

April 3, 2002
A former Alexander Youth Services Center guard set to go to trial today on a charge he falsified logbooks instead pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and received a suspended sentence. Eugene Girley, 54, of Pine Bluff was arrested in July. He was accused of lying in documents to make it appear he monitored a 16-year-old who committed suicide in his cell at the youth lockup May 13. Girley was charged with falsifying public records, a class D felony. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

March 28, 2002
The Saline County prosecuting attorney's office plans to treat two 16-year-olds accused of escaping from a youth lockup last week as adults, a spokesman for the office said Monday. Bennie David Guy and Stephen Andrew Menasco are accused of breaking away from a group of inmates at Alexander Youth Services Center about 7:30 p.m. March 16. The department's Youth Services Division oversees Alexander Youth Services Center. Cornell Companies Inc., a Houston-based company, began running the facility for the state Sept. 1. Last week, Cornell officials and Youth Services Division Director Doyle Herndon also met with neighbors of the facility who complained they weren't contacted soon enough after the escapes. Some said they weren't contacted at all. (The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

March 23, 2002
A Division of Youth Services guard accused of trying to hurl a juvenile inmate to the ground is charged with third-degree battery and terroristic threatening. The alleged incident at the Alexander Unit occurred last August, though Saline County authorities did not bring charges until Tuesday against Keith Kelley, 34, of North Little Rock.  Authorities say a surveillance videotape shows Kelley lifting a 15-year-old boy over his head and trying to throw him. Court papers say Kelley administered body and head blows to the boy, twisted his genitals and told the youth, "I'm going to kill you." Several months before the Kelley incident, an inmate hanged himself inside the facility. A short time after Cornell took control, a second youth committed suicide in the same cell. Last week, two inmates escaped and were captured the next day. (AP)

March 22, 2002
Lawmakers questioned Thursday whether a company awarded a $ 13 million contract to run the states Alexander lockup for troubled youths is living up to the deal, given the company's lack of compliance with federal special-education regulations. "I think you need to be as mean as a junkyard dog and go out there and tell Cornell you've got a contract, now you're going to keep it, starting today", state Rep. Kim Hendren, R-Gravette, told Herndon. Rep. Tracy Steele, D-North Little Rock, said legislators have asked the division several times for a copy of the contract but never got it. Herndon promised Thursday that copies would be provided. The Alexander center has been out of compliance with the education regulations for more than three years. Marcia Harding, the state Education Departments associate director for special education, told lawmakers that she doesn't think Cornell is trying hard enough. She said the company hasn't posted the jobs on the states employment Web site or advertised out of state. Harding told the subcommittee last month that the deteriorating quality of special-education services at the Alexander center put the Department of Human Services in jeopardy of losing $ 2 million in education funding because the state ultimately is deemed responsible for providing the services. A Dec. 12-13, 2001, inspection by Department of Education monitors showed that the Alexander center was out of compliance in eight of nine areas. "Children were not in classes, there were no textbooks and there was a shortage of teachers", Harding told lawmakers the day before the most recent inspection. Crowley, administrator of the special-education monitoring unit, later told Harding in a memo that the bottom line is Cornell isn't anywhere close to compliance. "Information provided by Cornell about its efforts to secure additional qualified staff was far short of compliance with either the spirit or intent of federal law", Crowley wrote. (The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

March 13, 2002
The private company running Alexander Youth Services Center fired a youth services employee last week after he was accused of trying to sell drugs to a guard at the facility, officials there said. Chandler Armstrong, 22, of Benton was arrested and charged with possessing a controlled substance after security officers at the center alerted police. Scott Tanner, juvenile ombudsman coordinator for the Arkansas public defender's office, said Cornell handled the situation appropriately. However, he was concerned he hadn't heard about the incident until contacted by a reporter. (The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

February 21, 2002
The state Department of Human Services could lose access to all state and federal education dollars if the agency does not quickly correct deficiencies in special education and mental health services for youths in state custody, legislators heard Thursday. State Department of Education monitors planned to inspect special education services at the Alexander unit Friday after giving youth services official 30 days on Jan. 28 to correct educational shortcomings that included $100,000 in missing textbook and educational equipment. "When our staff visited, we had children not in classes, no textbooks and limited numbers of teachers," Marcia Harding, the Education Department's special education director, told a joint meeting of legislative Joint Performance Review subcommittees. She said conditions are worse now than four years ago, when the DHS' Division of Youth Services began employing private contractors to provide education services at Alexander, the state's biggest juvenile facility. "It has steadily declined to the point where we can no longer accept it in any form or tolerate it. It simply has to change," Harding said. Rep. Jay Bradford, D-White Hall, questioned whether the private company hired to run the Alexander unit was fulfilling its contract. Cornell Companies Inc. of Houston, a private company, began operating the center under state contract Sept. 1. (AP)

February 2, 2002
Two guards at the Alexander Youth Services Center were suspended Friday pending an investigation into their conduct during a fight among detainees. Three boys beat up a fourth Wednesday night in the bathroom of the facility's serious offender unit -- called the Juvenile Upward Mobility Program -- while two of the facility's staff stood by, according to police reports. Joe Quinn, spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Human Services, said the allegation that guards failed to intervene is "a tremendously serious situation." (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

January 24, 2002
The state's historically troubled facility for delinquent youth at Alexander doesn't comply with state and federal rules mandating special education courses be offered, lawmakers learned Wednesday. Legislators meeting at the Alexander Youth Services Center also heard from the head of the state's watchdog agency for children in the care of the Youth Services Division. Ombudsman Coordinator Scott Tanner said the most serious offenders at the facility -- such as murderers and rapists -- aren't getting the counseling and psychiatric treatment they need to adjust to society when they're released. Alexander's continued lack of compliance in eight of nine areas of state and federal special education mandates could result in the state Department of Education cutting off its funding to the center, according to a Jan. 2 letter from the Education Department. Members of the Joint Performance Review Committee spent almost two hours Wednesday grilling Doyle Herndon, director of the Youth Services Division, and Bob McCracken, facility director at Alexander, on how they plan to address these issues. "To me, there's a real problem here," said Rep. Jay Bradford, D-White Hall, of Tanner's concerns about lack of mental health services. "The time bomb is ticking. The fuse is lit," Bradford said. Cornell Companies Inc. of Houston, a private, for-profit firm, took over administration of Alexander on Sept. 1. The lockup previously was operated by the Youth Services Division, which still decides which youths are placed there for observation and assessment and possible transfer to other state facilities for delinquent children. Herndon said he, McCracken and other Cornell employees will meet with state Education Department officials Monday to address the facility's lack of special education courses. Additionally, Herndon said he is meeting Friday with Cornell managers to discuss the need to improve and increase mental health services at Alexander. The Jan. 2 letter regarding Alexander's noncompliance with special education rules was presented to the committee by Sen. Sharon Trusty, R-Russellville. The letter was from Janet Estes, the Education Department's special education supervisor for state-operated facilities, to Barbara Marsac, the division's assistant director of contracts and community programs. Estes wrote that that Alexander in September 2001 was found to be out of compliance with special education regulations in seven of nine areas. Similar noncompliance had been a problem since January 1999, Estes wrote. Division officials on Dec. 4 assured the department in writing that corrective actions had been implemented, Estes said. However, a Dec. 12-13 inspection by department monitors showed that Alexander was out of compliance in eight of nine areas. Bradford suggested that the committee ask Attorney General Mark Pryor to issue an opinion on whether Cornell is fulfilling all the terms of its contract with the state to run Alexander. (The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

October 31, 2001
A state investigation has concluded that the private firm that runs the juvenile lockup at Alexander failed to supervise inmates at risk of suicide while the staff conducted a meeting. A 15-year-old boy had hanged himself on Sept. 15. That death came after a 16-year-old died last May in the same cell and by the same method, while a guard was supposed to have been watching him. On Oct. 19, staff at the facility run by Houston-based Cornell Co. had a two-hour meeting, and left the at-risk youths without someone watching, according to a report by the Division of Youth Services, which is an arm of the state Department of Human Services. "We are tremendously frustrated that we are once again discussing an issue like this with Cornell," DHS spokesman Joe Quinn said Tuesday. "There is no excuse at all for juveniles not being checked in an appropriate time frame." Quinn said the lapse was "inexcusable." Cornell issued a statement questioning the findings in the report. Legislators complained that Cornell was not correcting problems it was hired to fix. Tom Jenkins, the executive director of Cornell, had promised legislators a day before the most recent lapse that the company made changes to ensure the safety of the youths. In the DHS probe, investigator Barbara Ausbrooks reviewed video surveillance tapes from the day after Jenkins addressed legislators. She found that the at-risk youths were not watched. Her report also said dormitories were not adequately staffed. "There were several children on suicide and close observation," Ausbrooks wrote. "It was clear that mandatory 15-minute checks were not being done. The children on suicide precaution were not in constant line of sight." Cornell's statement said that one inmate at risk of suicide was moved into a hall and was in view of a staff member. Cornell said it is reviewing the n report to see whether it needs to make changes or discipline employees. Jenkins said in a Tuesday news release that the Alexander center is troubled and it will take time to correct all problems. "There will be mistakes and difficulties encountered along the way; however, these mistakes do not mean that positive changes at the facility and in the lives of our clients are not occurring," he said. Youth Services director Doyle Herndon said he would review Cornell's corrective plan. State Rep. Jay Bradford, D-White Hall, said Cornell must improve. "I'm just totally surprised that someone who is supposedly in this business and has been for many years and is a national concern would make such basic mistakes," Bradford said. State Rep. Jan Judy, D-Fayetteville, defended Cornell, saying the company is making improvements. "They are working very hard," she said. "It wasn't that they didn't have staff on premises. They were doing an important training session and trying to better their program." (AP)

October 19, 2001
The private firm that runs the Alexander Youth Services Center has beefed up its facilities, security and training since a teenager committed suicide there last month, the company's director said.  Cornell Companies Inc. personnel also have removed bags of contraband from the living quarters of juveniles assigned to the youth lockup, Tom Jenkins, the company's senior vice president, said Thursday after presenting a report to legislators.  The report outlined steps the Houston-based company has taken to improve security and programs since taking over the Alexander unit Sept. 1.  "All the things you're talking about in your report ... don't mean anything," said Sen. Kevin Smith, D-Stuttgart, "unless you can tell me, straight-forward and honestly, do you have people observing these kids 24 hours a day who don't have criminal records, who don't fall asleep on the job and who are being backed up in some way?"  Kenneth McClain, 15, was found hanging in his cell Sept. 15. A report on the apparent suicide stated the youth was taunted by other inmates but no one looked in on the boy for more than an hour on the night he died.  McClain died in the same cell in which a 16-year-old hanged himself in May while a guard was supposed to have been watching him.  (AP)

October 4, 2001
It was shocking enough to read about another suicide at the Alexander Youth Center.  This was the third suicide at a state youth center since 1997, and these deaths are getting no easier to explain.  In this case, according to the report from the private company that now runs the center, the details are nightmarish: A frenzy of other inmates shouting "Do it.  Do it."  Guards who called to the inmate but didn't bother to look in on him even when he failed to respond.  Scheduled checks that weren't made.  A staff new to their jobs and unprepared for their duties.  Any suicide in detention is awful, but this one was worse than we thought.  It was worse than we could have imagined.  If its own report is accurate, the private outfit contracted to operate the youth center -- Cornell Companies Inc. -- has painted a damning picture of its own stewardship.  What does the Huckabee administration have to say about all this?  "We still are extremely troubled by the suicide," says Joe Quinn, who's become an expert by now at making apologies for the state's ironically named Department of Human Services.  Anybody would be troubled by what has happened.  The mystifying part of poor Joe Quinn's statement was the next sentence: "But we still have confidence in Cornell."  Why, for the love of Heaven?  No wonder Joe Quinn draws big bucks.  Imagine being called on to express confidence in the company that presided over this macabre mess.  Here's one question not addressed in Cornell's otherwise admirably candid report and painful recitation of one terrible mistake after another: Why should the people of Arkansas have confidence in an administration that contracts with such an outfit to guard its troubled young people?  Confession is good for the soul, but it shouldn't guarantee a state contract.  (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

October 2, 2001
A report on the apparent suicide of a 15-year-old boy at a juvenile lockup says the youth was taunted by other inmates but no one looked in on the boy for more than an hour.  Kenneth McClain II heard calls of "Do it, do it," and "Kill yourself, kill yourself," prior to his death on Sept. 16, according to a report by Cornell Companies Inc. The private for-profit firm had just taken over management of the facility.  The report says McClain, who had threatened to take his own life, covered his cell windows. Guards called to him but none looked inside despite policy that requires checks ever 15 minutes, the report said.  (AP)

September 22, 2001
If a fire breaks out at the state's Alexander Youth Services Center, most of those detained there can't count on sprinklers to douse the flames.  That's because most of the cells at the lockup for troubled youths don't have sprinklers -- a situation that concerns both the private company hired to run the facility and state officials responsible for monitoring construction by state agencies.  The four detention buildings at Alexander were built years ago -- nobody with the state is quite sure when -- well before the fire code required sprinklers in such facilities.  Jerry Evans, the assistant director of youth services, said installation of sprinklers now will become part of broader plans to refurbish three of the older detention buildings, joining efforts already underway to install sprinklers in a newly-constructed detention unit.  The work is expected to cost about $ 379,000, Evans said.  That amount is well below the amount that Cornell Companies Inc., the Houston, Texas-based for-profit operator of prison, estimates will be needed.  Cornell took over Alexander from the state on Sept. 1.  A report from John Stephens, the regional facilities manager for Cornell, estimated the fire-prevention work would cost about $ 610,000, or almost half of the $ 1.41 million in repairs he says are needed at the Alexander lockup.  (The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

September 20, 2001
The father of a 15-year-old boy who was found hanged at a juvenile lockup said officials refused to let him visit his son on the day the youth died.  Kenneth McClain Sr. said Wednesday that staff at the Alexander Youth Services Center told him on Sunday that his son had been moved to a serious offender unit after being involved in an altercation. The visit was denied.  Monday, the father was told his son, Kenneth McClain Jr., hanged himself with a bed sheet.  "If they would have just let me visit with my son," McClain said, "I think that would have made all the difference in the world to him."  McClain Jr. wanted to be a rap star, and his father said he'd bought the youth a karaoke machine and a keyboard for last Christmas. McClain Jr. had written one song.  "All he wanted to do was write songs," the elder McClain said. "I wish the world could have heard them."  McClain's suicide was the third at a state youth center since 1997 and the second this year. State police are investigating McClain's death.  Cornell Companies Inc., a Houston-based operator of prisons, had assumed control of the lockup a few weeks ago. Cornell spokesman Paul Doucette said the company is working with state officials to find out how the boy died.  "We are working cooperatively with the state to make the Alexander Youth Services Center a model juvenile program," Doucette said.  McClain Jr. attended what is now Fuller Middle School. He was incarcerated after he violated probation he received for a burglary, McClain Sr. said.  McClain Sr. said he divorced the boy's mother while his son was very young and did not participate in the boy's early life. McClain Sr. said he had served prison time on an assault and battery conviction.  He said he was stunned when his sister told him the youth was dead and regrets not having been able to visit the boy on Sunday.  "He probably would have loved to have just seen my face," McClain Sr. said.  "That would have been like the sunshine after a rainy day."  (AP)

September 17, 2001
A 15-year-old boy found hanging in his cell at a Department of Human Services youth detention facility is the third apparent suicide of a youth inmate in DHS custody since 1997.  DHS spokesman Joe Quinn said Sunday night's death at the Alexander Youth Services Center is being investigated by the Arkansas State Police, the DHS Division of Youth Services and Cornell Companies, which took over management of the youth detention facility on Sept. 1.  "We thought we had made the necessary adjustments after the suicide earlier this year, but obviously that was not the case," Quinn said. "This suicide raises some very serious questions. Basically everyone here is shocked that this has happened again."  (AP)

June 17, 2001
Arkansas' experiment with privatization of an adult prison facility was a bust.  Now the state is going to have another go at it with a juvenile facility.  Responsibility for the snake pit known as the Alexander Unit is about to be turned over to the third private owner-operator of correctional facilities in the nation, Cornell Companies Inc. of Houston, Texas.  Under the initial two-year contract, the state will pay Cornell about $13 million to do a better job, presumably, than the state could do at almost twice the cost.  Although no sound estimate of the projected cost-savings exists, since the state will continue to pick up the costs for medical insurance associated with Alexander's young inmates, DHS officials anticipate a minor windfall that they say they'll use to build still more juvenile detention facilities.  Sen. Kevin Smith of Stuttgart, who has been in the Legislature since 1993, is one of the skeptics.  The thought that a for-profit company can do much better for much less must boggle his mind.  (The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

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