See You in October

Federal investigation into juvenile corrections broad but slow

Comments (0) By Amy Silverman Thursday, Aug 8 2002

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And it can make it more difficult for ADJC to keep a lid on information it does not want revealed. But the federal guidelines appear to make the agency's job easier. A staff member at Adobe Mountain School contacted Weiss about a month ago, volunteering information about ADJC for the investigation. The staff member says Weiss said he could not interview a current ADJC employee without written permission from the agency.

"It's unfortunate that this is their policy because very few people (if any at all) will speak to them on the record," the staff member says.

Dan Huff

Juvenile corrections facilities in Arizona are under investigation.

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Read related stories in the "Slammed" series - A look at conditions within the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections

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Justice spokeswoman Kacey Stavropoulos had no comment on the way ADJC is preparing staff for the investigation or whether the Justice Department is severely limited in its access to ADJC employees.

Jan Christian asks, "If they can't talk to employees without permission of the state, what kind of investigation is it?"

And as for the mock interviews and practice inspections?

"What's always amazing in situations like this is that even when people are putting their best foot forward, serious problems are still easy to spot."