Youth lockups’ redo advances
Some projects at state detention centers near completion
Monday, January 3, 2011
Photo by Karen E. Segrave
Jose Sibrian, with Vratsinas Construction Co., grouts a wall Thursday at a new building under construction at the Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center in Alexander. LITTLE ROCK — Several new classrooms and dorms at the state’s six youth-detention centers are nearing completion, marking the latest milestone in Arkansas’ effort to revamp its juvenile-justice system.
So far, most of the construction projects are coming in at or under budget, which totals about $17 million solely from federal stimulus money the state received in 2009.
“This is really a perfect storm for juvenile-justice reform because we’ve had all of these programmatic changes - the approach to juvenile justice in general, education, therapeutic treatment and assessment and early intervention - on one side of DYS,” said Julie Munsell, a spokesman for the Department of Human Services, which oversees the Youth Services Division.
“On the other side, they’ve been given the opportunity to literally restructure the different campuses.
“I think it’s going to make a huge difference.”
For years, the state’s juvenile-justice system was plagued by failures in education and youth safety, but the Youth Services Division pushed for new legislation and changes to combat many of those long-standing problems.
Still, the buildings where youths in state custody live and learn remained inadequate. Most are old, and some have been declared unsafe.
With the influx of federal stimulus money, Human Services officials saw a way to improve the detention facilities, which are called juvenile-treatment centers.
The construction effort, which included a focus on making the facilities more energy efficient, is the largest investment in new buildings for the division in decades.
The 5,000-square-foot education building at the Dermott Juvenile Treatment Center is virtually complete, down to having furniture in the classrooms. The price tag for the four large classrooms filled with the latest technological advances for schools, storage rooms and teacher work areas sits at $685,000.
“[Teachers] didn’t have anything before [in terms of workspace],” said Jerry Walsh, executive director of South Arkansas Youth Services, which is contracted to run the facilities in Dermott, Mansfield and Lewisville.
“In the original buildings, education was basically an afterthought. This is coming back and correcting that.”
Students should be in those rooms sometime this month.
Nearly identical buildings at the Colt and Harrisburg juvenile-treatment centers should be open in March. Combined, the construction has cost the state $1.19 million, about $70,000 less than expected.
Though some unexpected costs could still pop up, Youth Services officials said they don’t expect any major additional costs.
In Lewisville, the state decided to build new dorms and turn the old ones into new classrooms. Originally, the state had budgeted $985,000 for design and construction, but changes have increased that price to nearly $1.3 million.
State officials expect savings from other projects to offset those additional costs and say the end result will be worth the extra money.
The old military-style barracks in Lewisville aren’t as conducive to treatment, which is the goal for youths sentenced to state custody - not punishment - noted Ron Angel, director of the Youth Services Division.
The new dorms will house two youths to a room and will have break, study and recreation areas that Youth Services officials believe will foster a more therapeutic environment.
“To have these really nice education facilities as well as the dorms, I think we are far better off than we were,” Angel said. “I think it’s going to benefit the treatment of these kids and getting them back home and into the community.”
The biggest portion of the money - $7.8 million - is going toward the design and rebuilding of the entire Mansfield Juvenile Treatment Center in western Arkansas.
The boxy, 1960s-era buildings that make up the facility are small, rustic and in disrepair. Many have cracks in walls, shifted foundations and thin windows that let cool air out in the summer and cold air in during the winter.
Consultants told legislators in 2006 that the Mansfield center had met its “useful life,” but the state continued to use it. At the time, the buildings were described as“worn out, and, frankly, dangerous.”
Workers broke ground on the new buildings this summer, said Walsh of South Arkansas Youth Services.
The three new girls’ dorms, three new boys’ dorms and multipurpose building that will house classrooms, a cafeteria and workspace for teachers are about 60 percent complete. The dorms all have individual rooms, which Walsh described a huge step up, considering the old dorm rooms housed 12 people each.
The construction price tag is now at about $6.852 million. The construction budget is $7.1 million.
The buildings all should be in use by June and will provide more than 37,200 square feet of space.
“Mansfield was so small,” Angel said, pointing out that classrooms were so cramped desks were shoved against the wall with the chalkboard. “That was unacceptable to me.”
Though Mansfield is the largest and most expensive project the state undertook, it was not the most contentious.
That claim went to the construction project at the Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center, which many people still know by its old name, the Alexander Juvenile Correctional Facility.
It is the state’s largest youth lockup and is reserved for the 120 most-serious offenders.
For years, legislators and child advocates have called for the closure of that facility. Some complained about the state spending any money at all for new buildings there.
But Angel moved forward with plans for a 21,500-square-foot education and cafeteria building that will include 15 classrooms, a library and enough space to use for recreation.
Right now, the project is about 45 percent complete. The state has spent $3.7 million of the $5.3 of the construction budget.
“We’re trying to show these young people there is a better way to live and give them treatment at the same time,” Angel said.
So far, most of the construction projects are coming in at or under budget, which totals about $17 million solely from federal stimulus money the state received in 2009.
“This is really a perfect storm for juvenile-justice reform because we’ve had all of these programmatic changes - the approach to juvenile justice in general, education, therapeutic treatment and assessment and early intervention - on one side of DYS,” said Julie Munsell, a spokesman for the Department of Human Services, which oversees the Youth Services Division.
“On the other side, they’ve been given the opportunity to literally restructure the different campuses.
“I think it’s going to make a huge difference.”
For years, the state’s juvenile-justice system was plagued by failures in education and youth safety, but the Youth Services Division pushed for new legislation and changes to combat many of those long-standing problems.
Still, the buildings where youths in state custody live and learn remained inadequate. Most are old, and some have been declared unsafe.
With the influx of federal stimulus money, Human Services officials saw a way to improve the detention facilities, which are called juvenile-treatment centers.
The construction effort, which included a focus on making the facilities more energy efficient, is the largest investment in new buildings for the division in decades.
The 5,000-square-foot education building at the Dermott Juvenile Treatment Center is virtually complete, down to having furniture in the classrooms. The price tag for the four large classrooms filled with the latest technological advances for schools, storage rooms and teacher work areas sits at $685,000.
“[Teachers] didn’t have anything before [in terms of workspace],” said Jerry Walsh, executive director of South Arkansas Youth Services, which is contracted to run the facilities in Dermott, Mansfield and Lewisville.
“In the original buildings, education was basically an afterthought. This is coming back and correcting that.”
Students should be in those rooms sometime this month.
Nearly identical buildings at the Colt and Harrisburg juvenile-treatment centers should be open in March. Combined, the construction has cost the state $1.19 million, about $70,000 less than expected.
Though some unexpected costs could still pop up, Youth Services officials said they don’t expect any major additional costs.
In Lewisville, the state decided to build new dorms and turn the old ones into new classrooms. Originally, the state had budgeted $985,000 for design and construction, but changes have increased that price to nearly $1.3 million.
State officials expect savings from other projects to offset those additional costs and say the end result will be worth the extra money.
The old military-style barracks in Lewisville aren’t as conducive to treatment, which is the goal for youths sentenced to state custody - not punishment - noted Ron Angel, director of the Youth Services Division.
The new dorms will house two youths to a room and will have break, study and recreation areas that Youth Services officials believe will foster a more therapeutic environment.
“To have these really nice education facilities as well as the dorms, I think we are far better off than we were,” Angel said. “I think it’s going to benefit the treatment of these kids and getting them back home and into the community.”
The biggest portion of the money - $7.8 million - is going toward the design and rebuilding of the entire Mansfield Juvenile Treatment Center in western Arkansas.
The boxy, 1960s-era buildings that make up the facility are small, rustic and in disrepair. Many have cracks in walls, shifted foundations and thin windows that let cool air out in the summer and cold air in during the winter.
Consultants told legislators in 2006 that the Mansfield center had met its “useful life,” but the state continued to use it. At the time, the buildings were described as“worn out, and, frankly, dangerous.”
Workers broke ground on the new buildings this summer, said Walsh of South Arkansas Youth Services.
The three new girls’ dorms, three new boys’ dorms and multipurpose building that will house classrooms, a cafeteria and workspace for teachers are about 60 percent complete. The dorms all have individual rooms, which Walsh described a huge step up, considering the old dorm rooms housed 12 people each.
The construction price tag is now at about $6.852 million. The construction budget is $7.1 million.
The buildings all should be in use by June and will provide more than 37,200 square feet of space.
“Mansfield was so small,” Angel said, pointing out that classrooms were so cramped desks were shoved against the wall with the chalkboard. “That was unacceptable to me.”
Though Mansfield is the largest and most expensive project the state undertook, it was not the most contentious.
That claim went to the construction project at the Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center, which many people still know by its old name, the Alexander Juvenile Correctional Facility.
It is the state’s largest youth lockup and is reserved for the 120 most-serious offenders.
For years, legislators and child advocates have called for the closure of that facility. Some complained about the state spending any money at all for new buildings there.
But Angel moved forward with plans for a 21,500-square-foot education and cafeteria building that will include 15 classrooms, a library and enough space to use for recreation.
Right now, the project is about 45 percent complete. The state has spent $3.7 million of the $5.3 of the construction budget.
“We’re trying to show these young people there is a better way to live and give them treatment at the same time,” Angel said.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 01/03/2011
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