PRISONERS
OF PROFIT
said about provider.”
“They’re not getting rated on
the things that are most important,” said Vanessa Patino Lydia,
who has followed Florida’s juvenile justice system as a research
director at the National Council
on Crime and Delinquency and
the Delores Barr Weaver Policy
Center, a nonprofit focused on
girls in the juvenile justice system.
“The points are about: ‘Did you
respond to the questions on what
you’re going to do?’”
The Department of Juvenile
Justice asserts that problems with
a company’s program in one state
do not necessarily raise concerns
about its activities in another.
“Comparisons between states
can be difficult since juvenile justice is administered differently
around the country,” said Meghan
Speakes Collins, the DJJ spokeswoman. “Additionally, companies
often have different management
oversight and personnel operating
programs in individual states.”
The proposal Slattery put forward for Thompson Academy
included descriptions of his company’s “expert managers and
well-trained staff that are setting the highest standards in our
industry.” He won the contract.
HUFFINGTON
11.03.13
Soon, the same problems that
had emerged at many of his institutions cropped up again, according to HuffPost’s review of state
facility reports.
In December 2003, a month before Slattery’s firm formally took
over Thompson, state monitors
noted that the company had yet to
fill any of the direct-care staff positions, the guards who work most
closely with children.
A state review found that the
company also had yet to detail its plans for recreation and
physical fitness, or arrangements
for food services.
In February 2004, less than
two months into the contract, a
boy escaped Thompson with the
help of another youth. An investigation by the Department of Juvenile Justice found that “facility
policies did not address escape
prevention” and staff had not
been properly trained. Furthermore, the company had not notified the state of the escape within
24 hours, as required.
Less than 10 days later, a staff
member attacked a 15-year-old
boy, slamming his head to the
floor and punching him, according to incident reports. When the
boy complained that he couldn’t
breathe, the guard put his hand
over the boy’s mouth. The guard
was later fired.