Feb
8
Juvenile justice boss OKs staff loan
Filed Under juvenile justice, single stories |
Originally published in The Palm Beach Post on Friday, Feb. 8, 2008.
By KATHLEEN CHAPMAN
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Outgoing Juvenile Justice Secretary Walt McNeil said Thursday that he did not see any problem with allowing three employees of his state agency to work on a juvenile justice reform project in Texas - in partnership with a top executive for a large Florida contractor they were supposed to oversee.
The partnership came about after Richard Nedelkoff, who was then chief operating officer of one of Florida’s largest juvenile justice contractors, Eckerd Youth Alternatives Inc., was asked to take over reform efforts at the troubled Texas Youth Commission.
Nedelkoff, who makes $160,000 in Texas, reached out to Rex Uberman, assistant secretary for residential services at the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, and asked whether he could bring his expertise to Texas.
Uberman is responsible for distributing and overseeing $195 million in state contracts for programs that treat juvenile delinquents, including $19.2 million that goes to Eckerd each year.
Texas is not paying Uberman as a consultant, but is reimbursing his travel expenses, including airfare, hotel, rental car and food.
Uberman said Thursday that he knew Nedelkoff was still working for Eckerd Youth Alternatives when he agreed to help, and saw no problem with an unpaid arrangement. But he told Nedelkoff he preferred the request come from the state.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry obliged with a letter to McNeil, dated Jan. 16, that asked whether Texas could have Uberman’s help for 30 to 60 days, using about 25 percent of his time.
“Mr. Uberman comes highly recommended by Richard Nedelkoff, whom I recently appointed as conservator of TYC (Texas Youth Commission),” Perry wrote. “I believe that Mr. Uberman’s experience and expertise will prove helpful to the State of Texas particularly in the assessment of TYC facilities, operational reviews, policy development and strategic planning.”
FLORIDA REVISING ITS SYSTEM
McNeil, who is leaving the agency to take over the Department of Corrections, authorized the agreement. He said Thursday that he did not think there was a conflict of interest because Uberman and the two other officials were not working as paid consultants.
Nedelkoff left Eckerd Youth Alternatives through a mutual decision Thursday, to avoid “even the appearance of any impropriety,” Eckerd President and CEO David Dennis said.
Eckerd had agreed to allow Nedelkoff to work both jobs after he was chosen to lead the Texas agency in December, but decided that the “dual relationship is no longer one that he and I believe is tenable,” Dennis said.
“In trying to turn around the Texas Youth Commission, Richard has a strong need to bring in consultants from other states and state agencies, including the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice,” Dennis said.
Uberman, who makes a salary of $100,000 in Florida, said McNeil allowed him to spend two workdays in Texas this month. He also used five of his own weekend and holiday days on two separate trips, one over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
Juvenile Justice also agreed to lend the time of Mary Mills, who oversees youth programs in North Florida, and John Criswell, who oversees quality assurance for the agency.
Those officials were scheduled to participate in a teleconference next week, Uberman said, but have not yet done any work, he said.
Florida’s juvenile justice system is in the midst of its own reform effort.
The Blueprint Commission report, released Tuesday, calls for sweeping changes in the way Florida treats delinquent youth, and key officials, including Uberman, are deciding which contractors’ programs will be expanded or reduced.
Eckerd Youth Alternatives, which was built decades ago by drugstore chain founder Jack Eckerd, has held its contracts for years but could, like any provider, lose money as the state shifts its priorities.
Catherine Craig-Myers, a Tallahassee lobbyist who represents many private juvenile justice contractors, but not Eckerd, as head of the Florida Juvenile Justice Association, said she was surprised that McNeil would agree to lend three officials to Texas at a time when Florida needs them to fix a “broken” system here. Often when she calls the agency with questions and suggestions, Craig-Myers said, workers say they are understaffed.
“If we really are understaffed and we really do have a workload issue, how can the department afford to loan three of their employees to the state of Texas?” she said.
TEXAS PLANS HEARINGS
Texas state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, who co-chairs a special legislative committee overseeing reforms at the TYC, said Thursday that he didn’t understand why Nedelkoff was bringing in people “who have business relationships with his private company,” and said he had “real concerns about the mixture of oversight and contracts.”
Whitmire said he would pursue the issue in hearings.
“I’m sure your elected officials would be just as interested as we are,” he said.
Roy Miller, who lobbies legislators for juvenile justice and other children’s issues as President of the Children’s Campaign Inc., said all state officials have to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.
“I’m stunned that anyone would look at this and not see a conflict of interest,” he said.
“While their motivations may be sincere, the decision brings into question a wide range of relationships, and overall is poor judgment,” Miller said.
Uberman said he told Texas leaders that his time would be extremely limited once Florida’s legislative session begins this spring, and doesn’t anticipate spending more than two workdays a month in Texas.
He said the trips would be mutually beneficial to both states, allowing them to share ideas.
“Never in my wildest dreams two or three weeks ago, when the state of Texas asked me to help, would I think that anyone would have a concern,” Uberman said.
Capital Bureau reporter Dara Kam contributed to this story.
Copyright 2008 The Palm Beach Newspapers, Inc.
Palm Beach Post (Florida)
February 8, 2008 Friday
FINAL EDITION
SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. 1B
LENGTH: 976 words