Takeover worries workers

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz., March 6, 2008

The Department of Corrections has taken over operation of the Western Navajo Youth Detention Facility in Tuba City in a move that created uproar among the facility's employees last week.

The tribe assumed control Feb. 28 following reports that Western Navajo Juvenile Services Coordinating Council Inc., the independent corporation that ran the facility for about a decade, lost its corporate standing earlier in the month.

"It became an emergency situation," said Delores Greyeyes, Department of Corrections director. "They weren't in existence on paper."

Troubles for the private contractor began on Valentine's Day. First, the tribe's Business Regulatory Department revoked its corporate status, claiming that the corporation failed to submit mandatory annual reports since 2001.

According to a memorandum from Frank D. Nez Jr., regulatory department manager, the corporate officers were notified in November 2006 and May 2007 that the reports are required in order to maintain good standing under tribal law.

"The annual reports for operations years 2001 to the present must be submitted if the corporate entity chooses to retain its good standing," the memo states. "To date, no action has been done. So based on this reason, the Articles of Incorporation for WNJCC Inc. is revoked."

With its business standing no longer valid on the reservation, WNJCC could not qualify as a contractor with the tribe. The Division of Public Safety, which includes the corrections department, had no choice but to end its contract with the firm.

"The Navajo Nation cannot be a party to a contractual relationship with a non-entity," stated Samson Cowboy, public safety director, in his own memorandum.

To do so would leave the tribe at risk of liability in the face of an accident, Cowboy explained in the memo.

Cowboy's memo was addressed to Richard Grey, board president of the Western Juvenile Services Coordinating Council, who could not be reached for comment.

During a presentation Monday before the Public Safety Committee, Cowboy said insurance coverage for the Tuba City juvenile lock-up was not in proper order, which could have opened the tribe up to even more legal liability.

In addition, Cowboy said the private contractor has failed to submit corrective action plans to address issues uncovered in annual audits since 2005. Cowboy also questioned if WJSCC was following its own articles of incorporation and bylaws.

Greyeyes said the tribe could have risked losing federal money used to operate the Tuba City facility. The facility currently holds seven youths who are serving sentences and admitted three additional youths last week.

Services at the detention facility have continued uninterrupted, said Greyeyes, who brought personnel from the corrections department's central office to help ease the transition.

The tribal officials were greeted with hostility by facility employees, who likely were misinformed about the tribe's intentions, she said.

Although technically, with the ouster of the oversight corporation, employees did lose their jobs, nearly all are welcomed and encouraged to reapply, Greyeyes said.

Over the weekend, four of the 25 employees had reapplied and were rehired, she said. All but the top two members of the original staff would be welcomed back, Greyeyes said.

She plans to appoint people from the corrections department headquarters in Window Rock to fill the facility administrator and finance manager positions.

The facility is operating with a full staff made up of returning employees and those from Window Rock, Greyeyes said.

The Public Safety Committee overwhelmingly agreed that DPS had taken the right actions, but a few members still had concerns.

Elmer P. Begay (Dilkon/Teesto) pointed out that the Department of Corrections is already faced with growing financial woes because the Tuba City and Chinle adult jails have been shut down.

"What makes you think you and the Navajo Nation could do a better job?" Begay asked. "During my year on the committee we've heard a lot about the jail crisis on the Navajo Nation."

Greyeyes said the juvenile facility is funded through federal grants from the BIA. The adult facilities were condemned as unsafe because both the tribe and the BIA refuse to pay for improvements.

"The funds are available (for Tuba City juvenile detention)," Greyeyes said. "There won't be that problem."

The Western Navajo Juvenile Detention Facility opened in 1996. The Western Navajo Juvenile Services Coordinating Council contracted with the tribe to operate the facility about a year later.