Mich. House GOP plan to privatize juvenile justice services leaves out high-security delinquents

A proposal by Michigan House Republicans to privatize what’s left of the state’s juvenile justice system in order to save money has critics arguing that the plan wouldn’t achieve sizable savings and in some cases leave the state’s most dangerous incarcerated youths with no options for private-sector rehabilitation.

(Creative Commons photo by matthelio via Flickr)

Beth Arnovits, director of the Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency responded bluntly to the proposal, saying that while the current system of handling juvenile criminals is already in bad shape, the GOP plan would only worsen the situation.

“We do not have a juvenile justice system in Michigan,” Arnovits told the Michigan Messenger. “We have 83 counties with 83 different systems. We do not know how our tax dollars [for state child care funds] are being spent.”

Because there are no standards for the treatment provided by private agencies, Arnovits said that a child serving time in one county facility may experience very different treatment then a child in a neighboring county. Under the Republican plan, government juvenile justice staff monitoring the entire state would be reduced to nine workers who would oversee purchasing services and private contracts and not the treatment and rehabilitation of these troubled children.

“The role of the state in monitoring how children are treated should be increased, not further decreased,” Arnovits said. “How much can be saved, at what cost to children should be fully researched before such a proposal is made.”

The plan, which has not yet been submitted to the legislature as a bill, calls for a wide range of cuts and reforms to state spending including a long-term process of privatizing the state’s juvenile justice system. The estimated savings associated with privatizing all of Michigan’s juvenile justice operations are based on an analysis prepared by the House Fiscal Agency, a nonpartisan legislative service that provides research, statistics and assessments to lawmakers.

The HFA estimates that by privatizing juvenile services the state could save $3.5 million in the first year and $7 million long term.

In order to make these savings, the state would close all public juvenile detention centers and eliminate the 274 state workers who run the facilities. The Michigan Department of Human Services staff working in juvenile justice services would be reduced to nine workers who would monitor the contracts and purchasing of private services.

Every aspect of the proposal worries Arnovits, who thinks privatizing what is left of state-funded juvenile delinquency services will further jeopardize troubled youths.

“From a public policy perspective it is not in the best interest of the counties, the kids or the state to do this,” Arnovits said. “It’s also not real savings.”

HFA Human Services Associate Director Bob Schneider, who calculated the numbers, noted that the savings are based on what high security private agencies charge now and not what they could charge to hold maximum security youths that are currently held at state-operated facilities.

Many juvenile delinquents are rejected from private facilities because these centers do have the means to contain children with severe behavioral disorders. But the state does.

One of the public facilities on the list for closure under the GOP plan is the Maxey Training School in Whitmore Lake near Brighton.

“The kids that are at Maxey and in the DHS placement are the kids that have failed at the other placements.” Arnovits said. “Maxey is much more secure. That is the purpose of Maxey — to take care of high-cost high-needs kids that will not be accepted by private agencies.”

Schneider is aware that some children could not be placed under a private plan, and said he shared these concerns with GOP caucus staff. He said the DHS estimates that more than 60 percent of children serving time in public facilities were at one point rejected from private facilities. “If the DHS claims are accurate, there may be some children in public facilities for which no suitable private placement exists,” Schneider told Michigan Messenger in an e-mail.

This worries Arnovits: “It’s readily admitted that there will be kids that cannot be placed under this plan,” she said. “If we have gotten rid of all of our secure state-run facilities, what are we gonna do with these children?” she asked. “Send them out of state? Pay for those costs to get them somewhere else?”

The disparity in security from public to private operations could also affect the projected savings in a privatized system. Because the estimated private agency expenses do not reflect the costs to hike in security at private facilities, the HFA estimates may be inflated.

Overall, Arnovits doesn’t see the state saving enough money for complete privatization of the juvenile justice system to be worthwhile. “There will be money involved that is not the least bit accounted for in this,” Arnovitz said. “Any potential saving, which is smaller than what is budgeted here, would be offset by how we would screw these kids up.”

It is also unclear whether private facilities would be mandated to provide mental health services to youths in need of counseling, as are offered at current state facilities such as Maxey Training School. “Most of these kids have serious mental health needs and they’re being addressed at Maxey,” Arnovits said.

If the juvenile justice privatization plan does pass the state legislature, it won’t go into effect this fiscal year. According to House GOP spokesman Ryan Kazmirzack, the proposal is a long-term reform plan and would not go into effect anytime soon. “These are long-term savings estimates. This is not included in our plan for the upcoming fiscal year,” Kazmirzack told Michigan Messenger.

But whether the plan to privatize child criminal services is proposed for this year or next, Arnovits says it’s not worth the time. “I don’t think they should waste any more time planning to do it, it’s just not good public policy,” she said.