Guinn backs state takeover of troubled youth prison

Cy Ryan and Kim Smith

Thursday, Oct. 11, 2001 | 10:25 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn says plans for the state to operate the troubled Summit View Youth Correction Center in North Las Vegas are proceeding.

The state would take control from a private company, which is pulling out.

Still, Guinn said the private operator, Youth Services International, would first have to make repairs to the center.

"They've got to clean up the place and leave it like it was," Guinn said Tuesday. "It has not been taken care of." He said part of the contract calls for the private company to leave it "in good shape."

YSI in September gave six months' notice that it was pulling out of the operation, which has had a number of problems. The state had the option of finding another private company to run the facility, which opened in July 2000, or allowing the state to assume control, as is the case with youth correction facilities in Elko and Caliente.

The governor said he has not talked with Mike Willden, director of the State Division of Human Resources, for several days. Willden has been preparing a plan for the state to take over the facility.

Willden said Wednesday details involving the change were still being ironed out.

A formal announcement as to whether the state will be taking over the facility is expected sometime after the completion of a Friday meeting, Willden said.

Willie Smith, deputy administrator of the state Division of Child and Family Services, said the state will conduct an inventory of the center and decide what repairs must be made, sans normal wear and tear.

"I don't think there is anything that is totally broken," said Smith, who is in charge of youth correction programs. The contract, she said, is "pretty detailed," so that everything must be in "good repair" when the private company leaves.

Former Sen. Richard Bryan, who represents YSI, was out-of-town and could not be reached for comment, his secretary said Wednesday.

Part of the reason for pulling out given by YSI is that the prison failed to reach 95 percent of its 96-bed capacity. As of Tuesday there were only 43 inmates.

YSI is leaving its contract two years early. The state, which will likely take over in March, will have to recruit staff and also must obtain approval from the Legislative Interim Finance Committee to switch the operation.

The facility will have an annual budget of $4.3 million.

YSI had trouble recruiting and keeping staff, according to state officials.

Bruce Alder, acting administrator of the Child and Family Services Division, said a number of fines have been imposed on YSI, for things such as escapes and not failing to maintain a proper staff-to-inmate ratio at the center.

The center opened in July 2000, Alder said, with 30 inmates who are considered serious and chronic offenders. It had a high count of 81 juveniles, although after the attempted mass escape on June 1 the population in the center has remained about 40.

He said it would probably remain at that level, as YSI doesn't want to increase its staff.

Alder, who is retiring from state service at the end of the month, endorsed the idea of the state running the facility. The state has operated the Boys Training Center in Elko for more than 100 years and the center in Caliente since the 1960s.

While serious and chronic offenders have been placed in other institutions, Alder said the state has "had a good track record" in running those two centers.