Strict new rules let Boys Ranch keep operating
By Rhonda Bodfield and Enric Volante
The Arizona Daily Star
Arizona Boys Ranch, struggling to survive after the death of a 16-year-old boy, will be allowed to remain open if it meets strict requirements to prevent abuse, officials said yesterday.
Facing the biggest threat in its 49-year history, Boys Ranch agreed to a series of reforms after state officials refused to renew its operating license.
Five former ranch employees are to be arraigned Oct. 23 in Pinal County Superior Court on charges of manslaughter and abuse in the March 2 death of Nicholaus Contreraz of Sacramento, Calif.
Under the settlement announced yesterday, Boys Ranch must:
* Adhere to a zero-tolerance policy on abuse. It has always had such a policy, but state investigators want the board of directors to enforce it.
* Create an ombudsman office to resolve youth complaints.
* Hire state-approved consultants to determine whether changes are needed in staff training, medical services or the way employees control youths.
* Add an expert in youth rehabilitation programs - with no ties to the Boys Ranch - to the board of directors.
* Recruit a new director within 60 days. The board last month bought out the contract of Bob Thomas, who led the ranch for the past 22 years.
* Let state investigators do their job by giving them unobstructed access to residents, staff and records without prior review or oversight by ranch legal staff.
Years-old complaints
Child Protective Services workers have complained for years that Boys Ranch impeded investigations by withholding documents or insisting that a lawyer be present when investigators questioned staff members.
Boys Ranch has assured Arizona Department of Economic Security administrators that the days of drawn-out confrontations with state regulators are over.
Now state regulators are waiting to see if the Ranch backs up its pledges with action.
``When we went into the negotiations, my personal belief was that what we would require from them would be so extensive, there'd be no way they'd agree to live up to it,'' said Jim Hart, DES assistant director.
``I'm encouraged by this commitment. . . . The question is, can this now be permeated from top management through the rest of the staff?''
In Sacramento, Contreraz's mother, Julie Vega, said she was dismayed that the ranch will remain open, yet hopeful that regulators will shape a safer program.
``What excuse will be next?''
But she wondered why the settlement does not prohibit staffers from putting their hands on boys when confronting them about misbehavior.
``My son's dead and all these other kids have been hurt. . . . It's terrible, because if nothing changes and they do stay the same and somebody else does die, then what excuse is going to be next?''
Hart, of DES, said the Ranch must implement recommendations by the consultants, even if they suggest sweeping changes. Top among questionable practices, he said, could be the institution's ``hands-on'' means of controlling unruly boys, or ``addressing'' them by isolating them and yelling in their faces.
But A. Melvin McDonald, an attorney for the Boys Ranch, predicted, ``The essence of what the program is will remain unchanged. It will still be reality-based. It will still be a military-type program.''
Admits no wrongdoing
McDonald initially said the ranch will continue its ``hands-on'' approach. Then he said that will depend on the outside evaluation.
``I personally think there's a place for a hands-on (program) if the hands-on are within reasonable guidelines,'' he said.
Boys Ranch admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement.
``In general,'' McDonald said, the ranch continues to stand behind the 17 employees cited by Child Protective Services on administrative charges of abuse or neglect in the death of Contreraz. The boy died from an undetected buildup of pus in his chest while being forced to perform exercises.
McDonald said the Ranch has been paying for the employees' legal counsel.
The state has reserved the right to terminate the agreement if ranch leaders don't perform as expected. The DES will renew the license once it is satisfied the ranch has complied with the settlement terms.
More Arizona boys
The Boys Ranch has told the state it is interested in taking more Arizona youths, after previously concentrating on out-of-state placements. Ranch enrollment, which hovered around 600 earlier this year, is now below 100 after a series of setbacks.
In August its biggest client, the state of California, halted funding for its youths at the camps, forcing the Boys Ranch to scale back operations.
Later that month, Arizona said it wouldn't renew the Boys Ranch license after finding a pattern of abuse there.
Last week, a Pinal County grand jury indicted five former employees on charges of manslaughter and child abuse. A federal investigation into Contreraz's death continues.
Outrage over the death triggered calls for federal and state reform. California, for example, has mandated that any out-of-state youth facilities it uses must meet strict California standards.
A spokeswoman with the California Department of Social Services said the changes pledged by Boys Ranch aren't enough to satisfy her state.
``Under the circumstances presented in the agreement, they would not be getting their license back in California. They need to follow licensing standards all the way along,'' said Sidonie Squier.
``DES should have been able to go in there anytime and look at kids and records. Now, all of a sudden, they've agreed to abide by rules that were already in place? That would not be enough to get their license reinstated.''
Last chance for youths
Squier said California is just now certifying youth programs in other states. The first wave will be those facilities housing California youth. That should take at least a year, she said, so ``sending California children to ABR (Boys Ranch) is not imminent by any means.''
Gov. Jane Hull supports letting the ranch remain open with the new safeguards, because she recognizes the need to give some juveniles a last chance before incarceration, said Hull's spokeswoman, Francie Noyes.
``They've said before they'd fix things up, but what's different this time is, they have a change in top management, and this was something that was really needed to change the culture,'' Noyes said.
Still, she said, the governor will support legislation next year to improve oversight of such facilities, including forcing other states to keep closer tabs on their own juveniles in Arizona centers.
DES' Hart said the agency stopped short of recommending specific program changes for good reason.
``We're not in the business of designing programs for troubled youth. So we told them, `If you want to survive, you have to bring in people who have dealt with kids as difficult as the ones you deal with, who know how to do it without maltreating or abusing them in any way.''
Copyright 1998, The Arizona Daily Star
For more background information, see a list of related stories from the Star archives about Arizona Boys Ranch.
Arizona Boys Ranch outlines its program on its Web site.
Deal keeps Boys Ranch open
State is confident ABR will abide by changes
| The agreement |
|---|
|
Key terms in the settlement agreement between Arizona Boys Ranch and the state Department of Economic Security: |
| Related article |
|
Ranch deal has Hull's vote (10/8)
|
By Dennis Wagner
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 8, 1998
Arizona Boys Ranch reached a deal with state regulators to remain open, but agreed to sweeping reforms that could end a half-century of hard-nosed discipline.
Under a settlement announced Wednesday, the Department of Economic Security reversed its decision to deny an operating license to Boys Ranch, which agreed to major changes in management and the treatment of teenage offenders.
Linda Blessing, director of DES, said she believes the compact will eliminate a tradition of in-your-face confrontations and hands-on discipline at the home for troubled boys.
"This is quite a change in their operation. (Now) it's a matter of carrying out that policy," Blessing added.
Under the agreement, Boys Ranch directors committed to a "zero tolerance" standard for abuse of troubled youths, and vowed cooperation and compliance with state licensing laws and regulations.
Even with the deal in hand, the future of Boys Ranch remains uncertain. It lost four-fifths of its enrollment after the death of a 16-year-old California youth, likely faces a lawsuit as a result of that death and now appears to be giving up some of is trademark toughness.
The 49-year-old non-profit corporation, with campuses statewide, has been in jeopardy since Nicholaus Contreraz died March 2 while being punished at a boot camp in Oracle.
Authorities concluded that the Sacramento boy's severe lung infection was misdiagnosed, and that he succumbed after days of punishment and taunting by employees who thought he was faking illness.
A medical examiner found more than 70 cuts, scrapes and other wounds on Contreraz's body.
In August, Blessing issued a scathing report of misconduct at Boys Ranch. She described a pattern of abuse and neglect in the Contreraz case, and in 29 other instances reviewed by child welfare specialists. She also noted that Boys Ranch had been uncooperative during previous investigations that substantiated abuse.
Last week, a Pinal County grand jury indicted five former Boys Ranch workers on manslaughter and child abuse charges in connection with the Contreraz case.
Blessing said the settlement does not affect the criminal prosecutions or abuse cases still under investigation by Child Protective Services.
But it does allow Boys Ranch to stay in business.
Among other things, the agreement requires Boys Ranch to create an ombudsman to represent juveniles, redesign programs, recruit a new president and cooperate with future DES oversight.
"Boys Ranch has always been committed to providing quality programs for troubled youth," said John DeWulf, the organization's vice chairman. "And we are anxious to embrace the terms of this agreement in order to continue a rehabilitation program that is one of the best in the country."
Some of the required changes have already occurred.
Bob Thomas, president and chief executive at Boys Ranch for 22 years, was relieved of his duties by the board of directors. Denice Fitchie, another longtime administrator and second in command, resigned.
Specialists at CPS identified 17 employees responsible for misconduct leading to Contreraz's death, while licensing officials listed 29 additional charges involving other boys.
Although the Contreraz case initiated those probes, settlement papers and news releases issued by DES and Boys Ranch made no mention of the boy or what happened to him.
"I can't even think right now," said Contreraz's grandmother, Connie Woodward of Sacramento, on learning of the DES decision. "I just hope that they know what they're doing."
"This place can't have changed that much that fast. It's like throwing the garbage out and not cleaning out the garbage can."
Blessing said Wednesday that her objective was never to close Boys Ranch, but to force a new attitude and administration.
"The most important thing is that these systemic changes take place -- cultural changes," Blessing said. "New leadership was a critical piece here."
Over the past two decades, at least three major investigations have substantiated abuse at Boys Ranch. In each case, the organization hired experts to dispute the findings, then complained that charges were trumped up by biased state investigators and lying kids.
DES also negotiated settlements in some of those disputes, only to have charges resurface.
Blessing said there is a major difference this time because Boys Ranch has agreed to provide DES monitors with unrestricted access to records, staff and residents, and to set up a program that will protect juveniles.
Although the settlement does not specifically discuss Boys Ranch's method of putting recalcitrant juveniles against a wall and "addressing" them, Blessing said she intends to make sure such tactics are eliminated via program reforms. In addition, she said, hands-on discipline will stop.
Casandra McCray, director of development for Boys Ranch, said that the "reality-based" program has always banned child abuse, but that the settlement offers an opportunity to emphasize safeguards.
"I know we are going to remain a very structured program, a very disciplined program," McCray added.
The $26 million agency provides residential rehabilitation for serious juvenile offenders who are placed by courts and probation departments. Treatment methods include a shock-therapy orientation program, confrontational discipline and community service, plus a tough regimen of work and exercise.
Each youth represents $3,600 a month, covered in most cases by tax dollars. Since Contreraz's death, however, enrollment has plummeted from nearly 600 to fewer than 100.
Only the main campus in Queen Creek is open. California, which provided about three-quarters of the boys, withdrew its juveniles. Most employees have been laid off. And negative publicity crippled recruitment efforts.
Blessing said those problems may explain why Boys Ranch officials had "a sense of urgency to get back on track" during negotiations.
In the settlement, DES agrees to give "reasonable assurances" about Boys Ranch to courts and other juvenile placement agencies -- support that could help revive enrollment.
Robert Johnson, chairman of the board at Boys Ranch, said his agency is "looking forward to a more positive relationship with DES and the opportunity to serve more Arizona juveniles."
But Blessing said giving "reasonable assurances" means only that DES will verify that Boys Ranch has lived up to the settlement, not that her agency will make endorsements.
Since the mid-1990s, Arizona enrollments at Boys Ranch have been limited due to a series of conflicts between Thomas and the Arizona Office of the Courts, which funds in-state placements.
There were about 25 Arizona youths at Boys Ranch in March, but only two are there now because court administrators banned further placements after Contreraz's death.
That position could change based on the settlement with DES, according to John MacDonald, communications director at the courts.
"What we've seen lately from Boys Ranch is pretty encouraging," MacDonald said. "We'll see what the future brings."
California officials are wary. Sidonie Squier, deputy director of public affairs for the state's Department of Social Services, said she was puzzled by terms of the settlement between Boys Ranch and DES -- especially the "zero tolerance" agreement on abuse.
"You always had to abide by that," she said. "You had to really mean it all along. ... If Arizona Boys Ranch was in California, that would not be enough to get them relicensed."
Because of the Contreraz case, Squier noted, the California Assembly adopted a new law this year restricting the placement of juveniles out of state. She said programs such as Boys Ranch must now be certified by California inspectors, and must meet that state's standards.
Dennis Wagner can be reached at (602) 444-8874 or at [email protected] via e-mail. The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Copyright 1998, The Arizona Republic
TUCSON
The Arizona Boys Ranch remains open, even though its license renewal application was after an investigation into a California boy's death that led to the indictment of five ex-employees.
Boys Ranch directors have been talking informally to state officials about restoring the license, Sally Ordini, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Economic Security, said Friday. A resolution is likely before a scheduled hearing Oct. 13 on the ranch's formal appeal, she said.
Pinal County authorities announced Thursday that a grand jury had indicted five former Boys Ranch workers on child abuse and manslaughter charges in the death of Nicholaus Contreraz, 16, of Sacramento. Their arraignment was set for Oct. 23.
California and Arizona investigators said they found a pattern of abused in Contreraz's death March 2 at the facility's boot camp-style training camp near Oracle.
At its height, Boys Ranch provided housing, schooling and intense rehabilitation for up to 600 juvenile offenders at seven campuses statewide and had a $26 million budget.
The operation shrank to two campuses and limited staff after California cut off funding; there are 100 or fewer juveniles enrolled now.
On August 26, the Department of Economic Security said it was not approving the Boys Ranch's annual operating license renewal application.
Boys Ranch filed an appeal to the state Office of Administrative Hearings, which handles appeal of state agency rulings. A hearing is set Oct. 13.
Ranch officials also requested informal negotiated settlement talks with top department officials, which have been held for the last two weeks, Ordini said.
By mutual agreement, no attorneys have been involved, she said. The object is to see whether the parties can agree on what changes are needed for Boys Ranch to receive either a provisional or full operating license.
State law allows the ranch to keep operating under its old license until a negotiated settlement is reached or the formal appeals hearing upholds or overturns the DES decision, she said.
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
DES -- ABR negotiations
Governor endorses Paper Tiger
Desktop Guide to Juvenile Detention
Adobe Acrobat Readerfree software.
USDOJ - OJJDPwebsite
Site index
Justice for Nicholaus
RadViews
� 1996-8
[email protected]
