News Release
November 1, 2007
Treatment…Arkansas Style
Funded Solely by Taxpayers Like You
LITTLE ROCK - Disability Rights Center, Inc. (DRC) releases its latest Investigation Report. Jan Baker, DRC Managing Attorney explained, "This report demonstrates how the lack of collaboration within the State's various child welfare systems can, through ineffective treatment, lead to the continued abuse and neglect of children within the State's custody."
The investigation was conducted in response to a phone call from a DRC client, who was in the custody of the Division of Youth Services and confined at Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center (AJATC). The client stated that she had been abused by staff on the AJATC campus and that her rights had been violated. DRC's primary recommendation is a call for the Governor to mandate inter and intra agency collaboration and oversight in order for agencies to work together to devise new approaches to partnering, sharing information, devising integrated treatment plans for the individual children, and making joint decisions regarding what is in the best interest of the child and not simply for the individual agency's convenience.
The investigation uncovered a number of systemic concerns within AJATC:
- Failure of AJATC to provide appropriate mental health treatment, and to identify the offenses and issues of the child and incorporate them into the child's treatment plans in order for the child to succeed in the "corrections" type of treatment provided.
- Failure of AJATC, DYS, and DCFS to appropriately refer and evaluate the female victim's educational needs.
- Finally, and possibly the most serious finding in the report is that DYS and AJATC failed to identify, investigate, report, and remedy allegations of abuse, neglect and the exploitation of the children they are entrusted to protect.
The Report concludes that the care and treatment provided to the children placed in the custody of the Department of Human Services is lacking oversight and accountability as to whether the services purchased and provided are effective and appropriate to address the unique and varied needs of these children.
DRC Senior Staff Attorney Dana McClain, stated, "The system must be reformed before any more children are abused, neglected and deprived of their fundamental rights. It is senseless to continue to funnel more than 50 million of the State's tax dollars into a system that is broken and fails to meet its legal obligations. We cannot continue to call it abuse when caused by a parent and services when caused by the state actor responsible for the care and treatment of children. Just as children cannot be served in a vacuum, reform cannot occur in one. All the stakeholders must set aside their egos, defensiveness, turf issues, etc., and remember the children they are all charged with helping. With great leadership from the Governor, DRC is confident that Arkansas can do better, much better, or the abuse of our children will continue."
To read the investigation document see http://www.arkdisabilityrights.org/newvision/DYSOct2007Report.pdf
To view just the bruising photos see http://www.arkdisabilityrights.org/newvision/DYSOct2007ReportAD1.pdf
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