By Hal Mattern and Mike McCloy
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 8, 1998

Gov. Jane Hull is alone among top political candidates in her support for allowing Arizona Boys Ranch, a controversial program for delinquent teens, to remain open.

On Wednesday, Hull gave her full support to an agreement by the state Department of Economic Security to renew the program's license, despite its problems.

But Hull's Democratic opponent, as well as both candidates for attorney general, said they thought the state's action was premature.

All three said the decision came too soon after the March death of a 16-year-old California boy at a Boys Ranch facility in southern Arizona. As a result of the death, which led to the indictments of five former Boys Ranch employees for manslaughter and child abuse, DES rejected the program's license renewal in August.

"It just seems too quick," said Paul Johnson, the Democratic candidate for governor. "I don't think it's advisable. I think we have a facility here that has a very bad track record."

Tom McGovern, the Republican candidate for attorney general, expressed similar concerns.

"I would feel very uncomfortable that you would move so quickly from the death of that child to the renewal of the contract," he said.

"It sounds like a pretty cheap price to pay for the death -- to accept a promise that it will never happen again. If those people were that reliable, the situation wouldn't have occurred in the first place."

Janet Napolitano, the Democratic candidate for attorney general, called the agreement to renew the license "precipitous."

"I am deeply concerned," she said. "The indictments were handed down just last week."

An agreement to improve operations may restore Boys Ranch's license, but it may not be enough to ensure safety of clients, Napolitano said.

"If I were a judge placing a kid, I wouldn't rely on a piece of paper with conditions imposed by the Department of Economic Security," she said.

Under the agreement with DES, Boys Ranch must impose a "zero tolerance" policy for abuse, create an ombudsman to represent juveniles, redesign its programs and recruit a new administrator.

Francie Noyes, Hull's press secretary, said the governor was especially supportive of the zero-tolerance provision, which she considered the cornerstone of the agreement. She also noted that because of improvements in the way DES oversees the program, "the situation is different than it may have been in the past."

But Hull also supports further improvements, Noyes said, and is backing a DES proposal that would require more monitoring of teens in Boys Ranch facilities by the agencies that place them in the program.

"Whoever chooses to put the kids in the program has to monitor them," Noyes said.

Boys are sent to the program by juvenile courts and social service agencies in other states.

Republic writer Chris Moeser contributed to this article.

Copyright 1998, The Arizona Republic

Nothing but a Paper Tiger

It is to be expected, if not desired, that the state and Arizona Boys Ranch would attempt to negotiate restoration of the Ranch's operating license, subject to mutually agreeable terms and conditions that must be satisfied prior to such license restoration.

One would have expected, however, that negotiators for the Arizona Department of Economic Security would have had the foresight and common sense to include pre-employment FBI background checks and an increased level of staff training consistent with nationally recognized techniques and competency standards as part of the negotiated settlement.

Instead, the state negotiates a Paper Tiger that, in effect, calls for those states placing juveniles at Arizona Boys Ranch to be held responsible for the safety and integrity of their placements -- in effect saying that if it had not been for the Sacramento judge sending Nicholaus Contreraz to the Ranch, he would be alive today.

The negotiated settlement announced by DES, when reviewd by a reasonable person, would be interpreted as nothing more than a starting point for further discussion that may lead to restoration of the Ranch's operating license. The idea that it is agreed by the Ranch that there will be a "zero tolerance" policy in regard to physical abuse by Ranch employees, and that this agreement is the foundation of this "settlement" is nothing more than another example of bureaucrats doing the least possible to address a problem.

On October 4, 1998, it was communicated to Dr. Linda Blessing, Director of the Department of Economic Security, that it is my hope that such settlement discussions were based upon, at a minimum, those guidelines found within the Desktop Guide to Juvenile Detention Practice, a publication of the US Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Obviously they were not, seemingly dismissed as major issues and relegated to the netherworld of taskforce discussion and future jurisdictional pissing contests between DES and ABR. As A. Melvin McDonald, an attorney for the Ranch stated, ``The essence of what the program is will remain unchanged...."

Failing to adopt the minimum standards for juvenile detention facilities that are set forth within this publication serves to set the Ranch up for another tragedy to occur in the future. Hopefully, the future tragedy, guaranteed to occur through adoption of this Paper Tiger settlement, will only be to the severity of a kid having had the hell beat out of him by a Ranch staff member; not another death -- A beating that will occur resulting from the staff member not having been competently trained and whose background was not adequately checked because the minimal effort put into this settlement by DES bureaucrats did not allow for such standards to be placed into effect.

So much for reasonable assurances.

Ron Ackert

Governor endorses Paper Tiger

DES and ABR negotiate settlement regarding license
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