The company that manages Arkansas’ youth lockups promised to offer training sessions, hire new staff members and improve communication to address problems the state identified in August.
The Arkansas Department of Human Services requested a corrective action plan from Rite of Passage Inc. to remedy a series of problems.
In addition to slow reporting of incidents that threaten health and safety or disrupt services, the state said the company also was slow to provide medical assessments for 21 kids, didn’t properly record observation of youths in confinement or “self-timeouts” for mental health reasons, and didn’t hold school for at least three required days at the Mansfield facility.
In an interview at the time, executive director Michael Cantrell said most of the issues occurred as Nevada-based Rite of Passage took over management of all four of the state’s lockups at Alexander, Dermott, Harrisburg and Mansfield. The company has a $70 million contract with the state that ends in 2023.
Youths are supposed to undergo medical assessments within 10 days of arriving at the Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center in Alexander where all juveniles are assessed before they begin treatment, said Michael Crump, Arkansas Division of Youth Services director. In 21 instances, assessments were delayed.
Rite of Passage hired a new psychological examiner to address timeliness of health assessments, according to the state’s Oct. 8 letter officially accepting the plan.
Cantrell said in an email to the newspaper that although the staff could see youths who were in staff-directed timeouts, room confinement or self-timeouts, they did not always document that.
The company conducted training on behavioral health and supervision four times through July and August, according to the state’s letter.
Internet outages and residents’ refusal to wear masks caused the missed school days at Mansfield. The internet connection at Mansfield has been an ongoing issue, Cantrell said.
The firm also promised to notify the state quickly if school is missed because of internet outages. The corrective action plan also identified a Mansfield staff member as the “point of contact” for Rite of Passage.
The state Department of Human Services will monitor the company’s performance to decide when the plan is completed, according to the letter.