CHRIS KIRKHAM
PRISONERS
OF PROFIT
years, the state again selected Slattery’s company — by then known as
Youth Services International — to
continue running the facility.
Under Florida guidelines, the
question of whether to renew a
private juvenile prison contract
“is at the Department’s sole discretion” and “shall be contingent,
at a minimum, upon satisfactory performance.” In the case
of Thompson Academy, the state
renewed YSI’s deal even though
documents showed that 96 percent of staff had left the facility and eight confirmed cases of
child abuse had emerged there
over the previous year.
The company has continued
HUFFINGTON
11.03.13
to win other contracts while using its successful proposal for
Thompson as a template.
The Department of Juvenile
Justice maintains that it has
improved its contract oversight
process by granting fewer renewals. The new system allows more
companies to submit proposals
once a contract is nearing completion, increasing competition.
Speakes Collins declined to say
whether YSI would have seen its
Thompson contract renewed under the new guidelines.
Former YSI employees dismissed
the review process as a mere formality. The Department of Juvenile
Justice “doesn’t care about these
kids,” said a former manager at
two YSI facilities, who asked not
be identified because the person
The Palm
Beach
Juvenile
Correctional
Facility is
YSI’s largest
youth prison
in Florida, with
118 beds.