PRISONERS
OF PROFIT
reason for his termination, according to state documents.
Williams, the current spokesman, confirmed that the company
had lodged a formal complaint
against Blanton, but added: “It
was not the reason he was terminated.” He referred other questions to the Florida Department
of Juvenile Justice.
Speakes Collins, the agency
spokeswoman, declined to com-
HUFFINGTON
11.03.13
background checks required by
state law.
A review of incidents involving staff and youth revealed that
many had not been reported to
the state within the required
timeframe. Only two out of 20
reviewed employees had completed required training on child
abuse and incident reporting
during their first two weeks on
the job, as required by the state.
“The paperwork looked great, because someone
was going around and spending overtime just to
make sure that paperwork was correct. If there was
something missing, they would just forge it.”
ment on the issue, asserting that
it would be “inappropriate” to
discuss matters that happened
during a past administration.
Less than four months after
Blanton was fired, another state
review of Thompson confirmed
and amplified many of the problems he had documented. Among
the “critical” concerns listed in
the annual audit: employees had
been hired absent the criminal
The review also found that staff
at Thompson badly neglected
preparing juveniles for release, in
one case failing to notify the state
social services agency about the
departure of a boy who had previously been in foster care.
Over the next two years, the
facility continued to receive low
marks on annual reviews, inclu