Arkansas officials closed a state-run youth prison in St. Francis County last week as part of the agency's larger plan to reduce juvenile incarceration, Department of Human Services representatives confirmed Thursday.
On Saturday, one of the last two youths remaining at the 28-bed Colt Juvenile Treatment Center was transferred to another state-run youth lockup in Harrisburg, which now houses 23 teenagers, department spokesman Amy Webb said. The other inmate went home, she said.
The Colt facility is one of two state juvenile lockups set to close by June 30. Colt facility employees can opt to continue their employment at the Harrisburg site, Webb said.
Officials are "on track" to shut down the juvenile treatment center in Dermott in the coming months, Webb added. The Dermott Juvenile Correctional Facility, a separate prison for youths ages 18 to 21, will remain open.
Closing two of the state's seven juvenile prisons, which house as many as 204 youths, is part of an ongoing effort to overhaul Arkansas' troubled juvenile justice system, particularly to curb the incarceration rate.
State records show that 402 youths were behind bars in fiscal 2018, the year ending June 30. The year prior, 433 youths were locked up. In fiscal 2015, it was 526.
Tom Masseau, youth advocate and executive director of nonprofit Disability Rights Arkansas, said the state "has made progress." He said he believes these changes, especially when paired with other advocacy efforts, will "continue improving the lives of youth within the juvenile justice system."
Masseau was referring to Senate Bill 152, filed in January by Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, which also aims to lower juvenile incarceration. The legislation would prohibit the jailing of young people for misdemeanor offenses and who are unlikely to commit additional crimes. It also requires judges to use screening tools that assess a child's needs and risk level before sentencing.
"The fact that the state is closing two secure facilities and looking at increasing community placement is another sign that true reform is coming," Masseau said in an email.
Disability Rights, which has federal monitoring authority, and other watchdog groups have for years found that abuse and neglect occur at the youth lockups, including inadequate behavioral-health treatment and poor facilities. Federal investigators have also cited similar problems.
Masseau added that Disability Rights inspectors will continue to monitor the remaining facilities to "ensure youth ... are not left out in the cold with no services."
The lockup closures are part of a "Transformation Plan" announced by Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Human Services Department officials in November.
The plan promises to reduce the jailing of low-risk youth offenders, shorten sentences and improve treatment services, such as therapy and substance abuse counseling, that kids receive behind bars. The department's Division of Youth Services will oversee the changes.
"The work to right-size our system and improve treatment for the youth in our care is continuing in earnest," Keesa Smith, a department deputy director, said in a Thursday news release. "Substantial work remains, but we are on track to make significant change."
Officials also say the state's intention to return the remaining state-run youth lockups to private management this year will address concerns raised by advocates.
The Youth Services Division issued a new request for proposals to operate the facilities in January; officials expect to begin evaluating proposals this month. The new contract, expected to cost about $160 million, is set to start in May.
In December 2016, Hutchinson ordered the department to take over the seven sites after lawmakers failed to approve a contract for operation of the facilities that had been awarded to an Indiana-based for-profit company. Two Arkansas nonprofits had been running them for years.
Arkansas' largest youth prison, the 120-bed Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center in Alexander, is managed by Rite of Passage, a Nevada firm.
The Youth Services Division is also carrying out other changes included in the "Transformation Plan," Webb said in the press release.
Facility staff will undergo mental health first aid training in March, for instance. And workers have begun infrastructure improvements at the remaining juvenile treatment centers, including updating heating and air systems and generators.
Metro on 02/01/2019