Henry intervenes in agencies' dispute over Rader

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A standoff between two state agencies over allegations of mistreatment of juveniles at the Lloyd E. Rader Center is forcing the governor's office to get involved. <br/><br/>Gov.

Sunday, October 10th 2004, 2:46 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A standoff between two state agencies over allegations of mistreatment of juveniles at the Lloyd E. Rader Center is forcing the governor's office to get involved.

Gov. Brad Henry's office has been monitoring the dispute between the Office of Juvenile Affairs and the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth, said Paul Sund, the governor's spokesman.

The OJA has rejected an investigative report by the commission's Office of Juvenile System Oversight. The report, issued Sept. 28, alleges 25 violations of a federal consent decree, state law and juvenile facility rules, including keeping juveniles in solitary confinement for more than a month.

Sund said Henry has asked Secretary of Human Services Howard Hendrick to mediate the dispute between the agencies.

``Obviously, Gov. Henry has been concerned about allegations regarding OJA and the Rader Center, and a number of weeks ago he asked Secretary Hendrick to monitor the situation,'' Sund said. ``In recent days Secretary Hendrick has brought leaders with OJA and OCCY together to discuss issues brought up to find some better means of communication and to work through the issues for a productive result.''

Meanwhile, the Oklahoma Board of Juvenile Affairs will apparently ignore the report's findings, which detail numerous apparent violations of juvenile confinement laws. The report also calls for possible action against OJA officials.

The Board of Juvenile Affairs oversees OJA, which operates three secure juvenile facilities, including the Rader Center in Sand Springs.

The OJA board is not expected to take action on the report's recommendations in its meeting later this month, said OJA board Chairman Bob Milan. Milan said the central issue of the investigative report _ solitary confinement _ is one of interpretation.

``I can understand how Rader's treatment of one of the youths could be interpreted as punishment or solitary confinement; however, this is not the case,'' said Milan, a drug and alcohol counselor from Lawton.

``The goal at Rader was to protect the individual from himself, and they did that within the law and Rader did that with concern and safety for this troubled youth.''

While the self-destructive juvenile was isolated from other Rader youths, Milan said the juvenile was supervised by at least one or more detention employees.

The report was the result of a six- month investigation at Rader.

The Rader Center also faces a federal probe by the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division on conditions of confinement. The federal probe was announced in April.

Attorney General Drew Edmondson's office has rebuffed efforts by federal investigators to interview Rader employees and residents.

Meanwhile, the investigative probe by the state calls for a review of the conduct of top OJA officials, who knew about isolated juveniles but failed to act. The report calls for disciplinary action against those officials if they violated federal or state law governing the detention of juveniles.

While the report recommends that OJA Executive Director Richard DeLaughter and other top-ranking officials have their conduct reviewed, Milan said DeLaughter has the full support of the seven-member OJA board.