JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REACHES SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH ARKANSAS FACILITY REGARDING CONDITIONS OF CONFINEMENT

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice today announced a settlement agreement with the state of Arkansas regarding conditions of confinement at one of its youth detention facilities. The state has agreed to implement major reforms to improve conditions at its Alexander Youth Services Center, under an agreement reached with the federal government. The Alexander Youth Services Center is the central intake facility for the state's juvenile justice system.

"I want to congratulate the state of Arkansas for moving quickly and working cooperatively with the Justice Department to protect the rights of incarcerated juveniles, and to fix the problems at Alexander," said Ralph F. Boyd, Jr., Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.

The Department of Justice began investigating the Alexander Youth Services Center in May 2002 under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) and the pattern or practice provisions of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. In November 2002, the Department of Justice informed the state that conditions at the facility violated the rights of the confined youth. The state of Arkansas and the Department have worked diligently and cooperatively since then to reach today's settlement.

The settlement agreement, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas will:

o require revisions to the facility's suicide prevention policy, and the implementation of a system to ensure staff compliance with the policy;

o provide for individualized mental health treatment to be given daily to children on suicide watch, and regularly to all juveniles who require such care;

o ensure that the facility obtains all relevant medical and mental health information about the juveniles;

o remedy the danger posed by combustible materials at the facility;

o require fire safety and emergency procedures;

o provide students at the facility with educational opportunities available to other children in the state, as well as ensure that all eligible students receive special education services; and,

o safeguard the religious freedom of juveniles at the facility.

The agreement will take effect upon entry by the federal court. The case will terminate in March 2005 if the state substantially complies with the terms of the agreement.

The Department of Justice is currently monitoring settlement agreements covering the juvenile facilities in Louisiana; Georgia; Puerto Rico; Essex County, New Jersey; and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The Department also has ongoing investigations at individual facilities in the states of Arizona, California, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, South Dakota, and Virginia.

###

03-146