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Youth Opportunity a chance to address juvenile justice issues

Youth Opportunity a chance to address juvenile justice issues

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Youth Opportunity a chance to address juvenile justice issues

Now that the operator of four youth lockups in Arkansas are calling it quits due to so-called “financial burdens” it appears now the state’s Human Services Department is under pressure to come up with a new operator or a better and more efficient way to handle our state’s wayward youth.

So seems the problems run deeper than just financial issues such as the company that runs the four lock-ups claim its partnership with the Division of Youth Services has been anything but cooperative.

Since Youth Opportunity Investment LLC, an Indiana company, made the surprise announcement to state officials recently DHS officials are scrambling to deal with the situation before the June 30 end date.

State officials have said they had hoped to work with the company for at least another six years, a partnership the company officials said was simply not working out financially.

In a letter end to DHS the company wrote that it had attempted “at every turn in our relationship” with the Division of Youth Services to show good faith in the spirit of partnership.

“However, as is shows by the events that have occurred during our partnership, support has not always been there from DHS and/or the Division of Youth Services,” the letter says.

It is clear that the problems really started in late 2018 when the state began an overhaul of the juvenile-justice system. Those efforts included more assessment of youth offenders to determine whether they can be treated better in their own communities rather than one of the four facilities located in Dermott, Harrisburg, Lewisville and Mansfield.

A quote from a DHS spokeswoman it is not the intent to take youth from their communities simply to fill up the four privately operated lockups.

The fact of the matter is that under the contract with DHS the company is paid per occupied bed and if it the intent to keep juvenile offenders in their communities for supposed treatment then their may not be a need for these privately operated lockups.

Since there has been an emphasis on community oriented treatment and supervision Youth Opportunity has lost close to $500,000 in July and has continued losing money every month.

It is certainly understandable that a private company would seriously consider bailing out of a losing deal but by the same token the serious business at hand is the safety and welfare of the youth being held in the custody of the state.

A juvenile ombudsman for the state seems to believe that Youth Opportunity wasn’t supportive of the changes DHS has made and it is her opinion that “youth should never be viewed as dollar signs.”

To that we can only say that if DHS contracts with a private company to operate these facilities it is understandable that this company is doing so for a profit otherwise why would any successful company want to take on a losing proposition?

That type of thinking is exactly the mentality of many bureaucrats and politicians who spend our tax dollars.

With all this in mind, and the concerns of these youth remain a priority, maybe a better contractual arrangement can be worked out with Youth Opportunity

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