looking for a private contractor to run the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School and
may continue to operate the Baltimore County school themselves rather than
seek a new vendor, state officials said yesterday.
The move was sharply criticized by some advocates who questioned the
state’s ability to properly run the facility for troubled youths.
“It’s challenging to know which thing Juvenile Services would do worse –
overseeing someone else running Hickey or running it themselves – because
they’ve done both things so abjectly poorly,” said Vincent Schiraldi,
executive director of the Washington-based Justice Policy Institute.
LaWanda Edwards, a Department of Juvenile Services spokeswoman, said
vendors were informed about a week ago of the state’s decision to withdraw a
request for proposals that had been distributed to companies that expressed
interest in running Hickey.
She said that step was necessary because circumstances have changed since
bid specifications were drawn up in December.
The number of youths housed at Hickey has steadily declined since last
year, from 264 to 170, Edwards said, which has altered the scope of services
called for in the proposed contract.
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“The department is currently looking at all its options, including us
running it ourselves,” Edwards said.
State officials will make a decision within the next month or two, she
added.
Florida-based Correctional Services Corp./Youth Services International had
operated Hickey under a five-year contract that ended March 31. The state
Department of Juvenile Services has been running it while searching for a new
operator.
Hickey serves as a detention center for youths awaiting trial, a holding
area for those awaiting placement in treatment programs, and offers training
programs for young offenders serving sentences that can last more than a year.
The facility, on a 200-acre campus about a mile southeast of Loch Raven
Reservoir, has a history of violent incidents, including abuse by staff.
The U.S. Justice Department reported in April “a deeply disturbing degree
of physical abuse of youth by staff” and “unacceptably high levels of
youth-on-youth violence.”
Stacey Gurian-Sherman of JJ Fair, a statewide advocacy group that works
with youth and families, said the problems noted by the Justice Department
reflect poor oversight of Hickey by Maryland juvenile justice officials.
She said it is unlikely that the same officials who did such a poor job of
monitoring how CSC/YSI ran Hickey would do any better job of running it
themselves.
“These people did an absolutely disgraceful job,” Gurian-Sherman said.
Schiraldi, of the Justice Policy Institute, suggested the governor consider
letting a nonprofit group that works with juveniles run Hickey.
Edwards said she does not disagree that the Juvenile Services department
“historically has not done a great job in running some of our bigger
facilities” such as Hickey.
“However, it’s a new administration, and we’re very dedicated,” she said.
“If we decide the state is going to run it, we will be very dedicated in
making sure that all the kids’ needs are met.”
State Sen. Brian E. Frosh, who is chairman of the Senate’s Judicial
Proceedings Committee, said he thinks contracting out services such as
Hickey’s operations is “very bad policy.”
He said a contractor has financial incentives to run such facilities in
ways that do not necessarily serve the best interests of Maryland youths.
“I think you’re much more likely to get better administration if the
department is running it than if you’re passing it on to a third party,” said
Frosh, a Montgomery County Democrat.
Legislation passed last year calls for the state to eventually shrink or
close Hickey and its other big detention centers.