Nevada lawmaker grills juvenile justice officials

Friday, Feb. 25, 2005 | 12:53 p.m.

CARSON CITY, Nev. - Democratic Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie grilled Nevada juvenile justice officials Thursday as they tried to assure lawmakers that abuse leading to a federal investigation is a thing of the past.

Leslie challenged officials on several staffing and funding requests in juvenile justice budgets, telling the Division of Child and Family Services that it needs to pick up the pace on making recommended changes.

The division has been in the hot seat since 2003, when a Justice Department probe found several employees at a state reformatory in Elko had kicked, pushed and slapped juvenile inmates.

The charges led to a shake-up at the agency and several reforms in the state juvenile justice system.

During a hearing before a joint budget subcommittee, child and family services administrator Jone Bosworth told lawmakers that her division was holding up its end of a reform agreement with the Justice Department.

But she acknowledged that the division continues to strive to meet federal recommendations for the reformatory.

"They continue to note for us that we need to do a better job of investigating when a use of force (by staff) occurs," she said. Bosworth said the division has added training officers to deal with that problem.

Jamie Killian, the new superintendent of the state's Caliente Youth Training Center, told lawmakers that her center still uses elements of a program called Positive Peer Culture but is "in transition" with plans to end it. Leslie has criticized the 1960s-era program for being outdated.

"Positive Peer Culture may have been good in 1960, but it's 2005 and I think we need something more progressive," Leslie said. "We just want to make sure we provide the absolute best, state of the art programming for our youth in our state institution. Our history has not been good."

Bosworth's division is requesting funding to bring the employee-to-inmate ratio in youth detention centers from 10-to-1 to 8-to-1 - the Justice Department's preferred, but not mandated, ratio.

Leslie also said she was irritated by the suggestion that the Legislature had not adequately funded detention staffing last session.

Other requests for additional state funding for juvenile detention centers were met with similar frustration from Leslie, the chairwoman of the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee.

Officials from China Springs Youth Camp in Douglas County and the Spring Mountain Youth Camp in Las Vegas asked lawmakers to consider large increases in state funding to their programs, which are partnerships with county governments.

"If you have needs in the camp that the governor chose not to fund, I would like to know what those are in a reasonable manner. You know we're not going to approve a 999 percent increase," said Leslie. "Let's be realistic."

The subcommittee also reviewed the division's foster care services. Leslie took Bosworth to task for not yet providing a comprehensive plan to address the needs of foster children with special mental health needs. Bosworth said her agency was working with counties, and it could take two years to devise and implement a program.

"Two years is just not going to be acceptable," said Leslie. "We don't have the luxury of two years."

Democrats on the committee also expressed concern that the governor's budget had not recommended raising payments to foster parents. Payments have not been significantly raised since 2001.