Teenagers are escorted to an awaiting Tennessee Department of Correction bus in custody after a riot at Woodland Hills Youth Development Center in Nashville on Sept. 4.NASHVILLE -- A top official said Monday that Tennessee is "changing the culture" at its three state-operated youth development centers for teen felons.
The list includes better food, computer games and later bed times for troubled kids who behave as well as improved therapeutic services.
But there's some tough love here too, Children's Services Commission Jim Henry said during his budget presentation to Gov. Bill Haslam: the state is asking a court to alter a 40-year-old agreement and obtain permission to use 144 locks on rooms and the ability to use pepper spray for trouble makers.
"We want to get into a system where we reward people for good behavior, not just hold them," Henry told reporters after his presentation. "We've been doing some good work over the last 20 years in [youth development centers] and a lot of kids have gone on to do better things."
But, Henry added, "this represents a new time, new services and we think this is going to be very successful.
At the same time, the state plans to continue privatizing custody-services for trouble youths. As part of that, the department intends to whack $7.78 million out of the departments operations budget for the troubled state-run Woodland Hills Youth Development Center in Nashville, which has been rocked by riots, as well the John S. Wilder facility in West Tennessee and the Mountain View facility in Northeast Tennessee.
Some $5.2 million of the savings will migrate over to privately run facilities for residential services, Henry said.
Meanwhile, the department plans to cut 90 positions. It's unclear just how many of those are filled.
While the state is cutting the department - Henry says a number of the positions are unfilled - development centers' staff who oversee nearly 150 teens will see their numbers bolstered.
Current ratios are one guard for every 16 teens. The new plan calls for a 1-to-12 ratio.
The department, which also provides children welfare, adoptions and other services, has been engulfed in recent years by a series of controversies, ranging from unexplained deaths of children in state custody to lag times of investigations into abuse.
Henry, a former state legislator, was brought in to change things, but even as things were improving in previous problem areas, the department was hit with riots, attacks on guards and two mass escapes at the Woodland Hills facility.
The commissioner said there were a number of problems at Woodland Hills, including the inability of the state to keep teen felons locked in their rooms at night and to utilize pepper spray.
But it was time to change the culture and provide more rewards for the youths as well as more consistent staffing and therapeutic services such as counseling.