The Arkansas Department of Human Services hired former state Sen. Tracy Steele, D-North Little Rock, as the director of its Division of Youth Services, the department announced Monday.
The division oversees youth detention centers, youth treatment centers and community-based programs for youth. It is responsible for eight facilities and contracts with a number of community programs across the state.
Steele, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor of North Little Rock last year, will replace former Director Ron Angel, who retired June 1 after six years in the position.
As a state lawmaker, Steele was at one time the chairman of the House and Senate committees that oversee Division of Youth Services activities. He is founder and chief executive officer of the STAND Foundation, a leadership and job-training program based in North Little Rock.
“Tracy’s familiarity with DYS and hispassion for working with Arkansas youth make him a great fit for the director position,” Human Services Department Director John Selig said in a statement. “He also has the support of the provider community and the ability to work with legislators from both sides of the aisle, which will be needed as we continue our work to improve the juvenile justice system.”
Steele will start work Monday. His annual salary will be $100,077, Human Services Department spokesman Amy Webb said.
Years of changes made under Angel transformed a system that officials and advocates once deemed ineffective, antiquated, overcrowded and sometimes dangerous.
Under Angel’s leadership, the division was released last year from court-ordered supervision by the U.S. Justice Department. The federal oversight began in 2003 after the Justice Department documented problems at the Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center in Alexander, including civil-rights violations that put youths at risk and deprived them of adequate educational and mental-heath services.
Angel pushed to end the oversight by making improvements to facilities and reducing the number of beds at the Alexander center from 143 to 100.
“I am thankful for thisopportunity to carry on the work that has been done to make this division a nationally recognized juvenile justice program,” Steele said in a statement. “I will bring anunwavering degree of dedication to support our young people and the families this division serves.”
He did not answer a call to his cellphone Monday, and his voice-mail box was not accepting messages.
Steele has a bachelor’s degree in political science fromRice University.
He previously coordinated former Gov. Bill Clinton’s rural development program and worked as the executive director of the state’s Martin Luther King Jr. Commission.
In accepting the position, Steele joins several former state lawmakers who nowwork in management roles at state agencies. They include Shane Broadway, interim director of the Department of Higher Education; Bill Walker, director of the Department of Career Education; and Jay Bradford, commissioner of the Arkansas Insurance Department.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 07/30/2013