New juvenile prisons deputy already criticized

The Associated Press - ATLANTA

Georgia's new deputy juvenile justice commissioner is already under criticism before he begins.

Frank Alarcon, who will start his $110,000-a-year job at the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice on Monday, resigned earlier this month from Florida's youth prisons system after a teenager died in custody.

Five years ago, he was fired as chief of California's system after the state inspector general found mismanagement and sexual misconduct by staff members with girls at a youth correctional facility.

"A man with Mr. Alarcon's reputation is not good enough for Georgia's children and should not be welcome," said Rick McDevitt, president of the advocacy group Georgia Alliance for Children. "He doesn't have a track record of running a clean system _ a system not full of abuses."

Juvenile Justice Commissioner Albert Murray, who hired Alarcon, said he stands by his decision.

"I am aware of the criticism he has been under," Murray said. "I'm also aware he has a national reputation. I believe he is a man who believes strongly in treatment and rehabilitation."

Murray was named by Gov. Sonny Perdue in January to replace Orlando Martinez, who was hired as commissioner in 1999 to correct problems in the juvenile detention system that were cited by a federal report.

Alarcon, 52, will oversee eight youth prisons and 21 youth detention centers.

He resigned May 7 from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice after five years as second in command. The resignation, and those of several other agency officials, followed the appendicitis death of a boy who had pleaded for medical help for three days.

"I can't believe another state took this guy," said Florida state Rep. Gustavo Barreiro, a Republican who was chairman of a committee on juvenile detention centers.

Alarcon worked for 18 years in California, the last three as agency head. He was fired in 1999 by then Gov. Gray Davis.

Former California state Sen. Cathie Wright, a Republican who has lobbied to oust Alarcon, said he is an advocate of severe punishment at the expense of rehabilitation. At the Ventura facility where the sex scandal occurred, he ignored problems until internal investigators uncovered complaints of misconduct, she said.

"He was closing his eyes to it," Wright said. "He was too busy traveling around being the great leader."

Alarcon downplayed Wright's and Barreiro's criticism.

"In many cases those attacks were political," he said. "Unfortunately, the media only picks up those incidents that are most dramatic. They don't see the whole story."

He defended his record, saying it is one of reducing juvenile crime while rehabilitating lawbreakers.

California fired prison official
Some criticize new head of youth prisons; others defend him

By CRAIG SCHNEIDER, JILL YOUNG MILLER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/14/04


Georgia's new deputy commissioner for youth prisons resigned from Florida's system earlier this month after a teenager died in custody, and he previously was ousted as California's juvenile justice chief.

Francisco "Frank" Alarcon will start his $110,000-a-year job at the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice on Monday, although some people are already objecting to his arrival.


"A man with Mr. Alarcon's reputation is not good enough for Georgia's children and should not be welcome," declared Rick McDevitt, president of the Georgia Alliance for Children, an advocacy group. "He doesn't have a track record of running a clean system — a system not full of abuses."

Alarcon, 52, will oversee Georgia's eight youth prisons and 21 youth detention centers. His hiring is part of an organizational shake-up by Juvenile Justice Commissioner Albert Murray. Gov. Sonny Perdue tapped Murray in January to replace Orlando Martinez, who was hired in 1999 to correct what a federal report called "egregious" conditions in Georgia's juvenile prisons.

Murray said he stands by Alarcon.

"I am aware of the criticism he has been under," Murray said. "I'm also aware he has a national reputation. I believe he is a man who believes strongly in treatment and rehabilitation."

Murray said Alarcon has a strong record for creating delinquency prevention programs, which Murray wants to strengthen in Georgia.

Alarcon resigned May 7 from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, after serving five years as second in command. His departure, along with those of several other top agency officials, followed public outrage when a teenage boy died of appendicitis after pleading for medical care for three days.

Florida state Rep. Gustavo "Gus" Barreiro, a Republican who was chairman of a legislative committee on juvenile detention centers, said, "Georgia has no idea what they are about to take on with this guy. . . . I can't believe another state took this guy."

In California, Alarcon worked for about 18 years in the juvenile justice system, his last three as the agency head. He was fired by then-Gov. Gray Davis in 1999, after the state inspector general found mismanagement and sexual misconduct by staff members with girls at the Ventura youth correctional facility.

Former California state Sen. Cathie Wright, a Republican who had lobbied to oust Alarcon, said he is an advocate of severe punishment for youths at the expense of rehabilitation. Wright said that, even after lawmakers demanded reform at Ventura, Alarcon ignored problems until internal investigations uncovered complaints of misconduct.

"He was closing his eyes to it," Wright said. "He was too busy traveling around being the great leader."

Alarcon said he has a strong record of reducing juvenile crime while rehabilitating wayward young people. He said he accepts some blame for problems in California and Florida but that he addressed problems appropriately. He downplayed Barreiro's and Wright's criticisms.

"That comes with the territory," Alarcon said. "In many cases those attacks were political. . . . Unfortunately, the media only picks up on those incidents that are most dramatic. They don't see the whole story."

Alarcon said his departure in California was political, due to a new governor coming into office. He said he was not pressured to leave Florida but left to help the state move beyond the controversy over the teenager's death last June.

The spokeswoman for Florida's juvenile justice agency said several accomplishments occurred while Alarcon was deputy secretary.

Florida started programs that have decreased juvenile detention recidivism by 6 percent since 1995, said spokeswoman Catherine Arnold. The state also boosted prevention grants in troubled communities and started a first-offender program that stresses family counseling instead of detention, she said.

"We netted a lot of good success," Arnold said.

In April, a review of state records by the Sun-Sentinel newspaper in South Florida found more than 400 confirmed cases of abuse or neglect in Florida juvenile justice programs during the past four years.

Alarcon said those cases "were not very thorough" investigations and that they represented only a small number of the children in Florida's juvenile justice system.

Alarcon said he welcomes the opportunity to help improve Georgia's system and is open to feedback and suggestions, even from critics. "It's incumbent on me to prove them wrong about what I represent," he said.

Wow!!! Just What We Need---were I Work Probably 90 Percent Of Our Kids Are Involved With Djj (departement Ofjuvenile Justice). There System Is Just As Bad As Dfcs!

Yea, its kinda scarey to think that knowing this man's past they are going to let him have this position. I think when it comes to dealing with youth it is detrimental that there are professionals who are good at their job involved... and I honestly don't see this guy falling in that category.