State’s running of prison opposed

Thursday, Jan. 23, 2003 | 11:17 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn's plan to reopen the Summit View juvenile detention center in North Las Vegas with the state running it has drawn opposition from Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio.

And state Sen. Sandra Tiffany, R-Henderson, suggested the state look at privatizing its mental health services in Southern Nevada instead of building a $32 million psychiatric hospital.

The two senators rekindled the debate Wednesday over who could operate those programs more efficiently, private industry or the state.

Tiffany's statement brought a sharp reply from Assemblyman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas.

"We have had privatization and it's been ugly," Arberry said. "State workers have been doing a darn good job."

Summit View, the $14 million, 96-bed facility for serious male offenders, had been operated by Correctional Services Corp. But that company pulled out after a number of problems including escapes and sex between inmates and staff, and the facility was closed.

Guinn has put $6 million in the budget for the state to re-open and operate Summit View for the next two fiscal years. State Human Resources Director Mike Willden told the Senate Finance Committee and the Assembly Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday that the state's cost would be $140 per day per inmate.

Two private firms bid to re-open the facility but their bids ranged from $149 to $160 per day per inmate, Willden said.

Raggio, R-Reno, questioned re-opening Summit View with the limited funds available to the state.

"We're going to look at this very critically," he said. Willden said an estimated 50 delinquents are in county facilities waiting for the state to take them, and that the juvenile reformatories in Elko and Caliente are above their capacities now.

Willden said that the state is paying $113 to $120 per day to place some young offenders in private programs in other states. But he said there is no chance to rehabilitate them with their families in Southern Nevada. "Our philosophy is not to send these kids out of state," Willden said.

Willden also said the governor's budget contains money to hire 42 more workers at the Elko and Caliente training centers. An investigation by the Justice Department at Elko found there was insufficient staff to handle the delinquents.

To meet national standards, Willden said, the two centers must have staffing of one employee to every 10 inmates during the day and one employee to every 16 inmates at night. He said there is only one nurse at each center and more medical personnel are needed to handle emergencies.

He said the Guinn's top priority in the construction program is a 120-bed mental health hospital in Las Vegas, plus a 30-bed psychiatric observation unit. The governor is recommending an increase in staffing to operate the current hospital at its 103-bed capacity while the new facility is built.

Mentally ill people end up in the emergency rooms of hospitals in Southern Nevada because the state doesn't have the space for them, the officials said.

Tiffany said other states have had success in having such patients treated in the private sector. She intends to pursue that issue when it is discussed again before the Senate Finance Committee, of which she is a member.

Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, expressed concern with the state's plan to phase out a ward of the Desert Willow mental health treatment center.

One unit treats children under 12 years old.

Edward Cotton, administrator of the state Division of Child and Family Services, said only that unit will be closed July 1. He said the young children can be treated better elsewhere in the community.

The eight-bed unit at Desert Willow is rarely filled, Cotton said.

Arberry said he feared this was a move to phase out Desert Willow, which opened in 1998. But Willden said there are no plans to close the facility.

Willden also told the committees that the state welfare division will need 107 additional workers next year and 133 new employees the following year because of explosive growth in public assistance cases.

He said welfare numbers are up 54 percent from 18 months ago and the state is predicting a 15 to 16 percent growth in each of the coming two years in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

Medicaid has grown 32 percent in the past 18 months and is expected to increase 15 percent next year and 10 percent the following year, he said.