Legislative Council gets report on youth lockup
Saturday, Oct 22, 2005

By Aaron Sadler
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK - 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.

The state ordered Cornell to submit a corrective action plan to address medical training and treatment. Cornell submitted the plan to Division of Youth Services Director Kenneth Hales last month.

Jane Miller, Cornell's director of behavioral health services, told legislators that four nurses were added to the staff at Alexander and the group was recruiting another employee.

She acknowledged that since Brown's death, "Alexander isn't real attractive to nurses at the moment."

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.

Miller said medical staff at the 349-bed detention center now have "sick call" five times a week, and nurses are ordered to respond to all requests for treatment.

If someone housed at the facility complains about the same symptoms twice in a 24-hour period, then a physician is notified, Miller said.

"I believe we are doing everything in our power to prevent (a death) from happening again," she said.

The corrective action plan also includes more training for health workers in emergency preparedness and review of medical records and histories. Also in the plan are new policies regarding chain-of-command and documentation of problems..

In another matter Friday, the Legislative Council endorsed a plan to add a 400-acre resort and golf course at Village Creek State Park in Cross County.

Cross County voters on Tuesday approved issuance of $25 million in bonds to pay for a hotel, restaurant, conference center, 27-hole golf course and other resort amenities.

Richard Davies, director of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism said the golf course was part of a master plan developed 30 years ago for the eastern Arkansas state park.

The resort's developer and operator, Wellington International, will repay $18 million in bonds from revenues from the operation, Davies said. About $7 million to pay for the golf course is to be repaid from state park revenues and a portion of a one-eighth percent sales tax dedicated to parks.

The Legislative Council gave Davies the go-ahead to purchase two acres of property adjacent to the park on Arkansas 284 as an entrance to the resort.

Davies said the resort and the golf course, designed by noted course designer Andy Dye, will create 125 jobs and generate $3 million a year for the local economy.
 

REFERRALS: CAICA is not a referral agency. CAICA does not refer to or promote facilities or transport companies for children or teens. CAICA warns parents that the parent pay / parent choice programs ie. Residential Treatment Centers, Therapeutic Boarding Schools, Behavior Modification Programs, Christian Programs, Positive Peer Culture Programs, etc., are not regulated by the Federal Government and that it is a "Buyer Beware" industry. CAICA provides the following for parents: Message to Parents, Help for Distraught and Desperate Parents, and Questions to Ask and Warning Signs.

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