Legislature allocates $4M to juvenile detention center for 2018-19

In an almost literal “11th hour” reprieve, Avoyelles Parish received news that most had thought was at least a year away -- funds were allocated that will allow Acadiana Center for Youth to open next year in Bunkie.

In the final moments of this year’s third special legislative session, state Sen. Eric LaFleur and state Rep. Robert Johnson were able to add $4 million to the budget to enable the juvenile rehabilitation center in Bunkie to hire and train staff so it can receive residents by next Spring.

The $20 million state-of-the-art complex has been sitting vacant for two years while the state refused to allocate funds to staff, open and operate the facility.

The decision means jobs to boost an ailing economy. Hiring and training employees will begin before the end of the year.

The $4 million allocation was in doubt until late in the session when the Senate was able to put some funding for the program into the budget to begin the hiring process.

LaFleur said the House did not include funding for the project in its budget.

“It wasn’t in the budget when it left my committee on Saturday,” he said. “We were able to get the partial funding put back on Sunday when the bill reached the Senate floor, but then it took a two-hour discussion to make sure it would be able to stay in the budget.

“I am very comfortable that the funding is now in place,” LaFleur added. LaFleur is chairman of the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee.

He thanked Johnson -- the minority whip for the House Democrats -- and Sen. Ronnie Johns, a Bunkie native, for working so hard to ensure funding for ACY was in place.

“Johnson worked hard on the House side to try and get the funding,” LaFleur said. “ He has been working on it for two years. Johns was very supportive of the project and worked with me on the Senate side. It was a team effort.”

‘FANTASTIC NEWS’

“This was fantastic news for Avoyelles Parish,” Johnson said. “It has been an intense discussion concerning the budget and revenue bills all session,”

Johnson said when the budget bill came back to the House for final approval, he had to make sure the votes were there to concur with any changes the Senate made -- including the $4 million for ACY.

He credited LaFleur for being able to put some of the funds back into the budget in the Senate. He said Johns was able to help get it passed in the Senate and House.

Bunkie Mayor Mike Robertson said the partial funding of the complete-but-vacant facility is some the best news Bunkie has had in the past few years.

“It has been a struggle to get ACY opened over the past couple of years, but this news is outstanding for the Bunkie and Avoyelles Parish area,” Robertson said. “I have been asked countless times over the last two years when it was going to open.” The construction of the $20 million state-of-the-art juvenile rehabilitation center took about three years. The facility has been empty for about two years ago while legislators debated funding issues.

Contractor M.D. Descant of Bunkie turned the facility over to the state Office of Juvenile Justice in late April. 

“This has been somewhat embarrassing that it wasn’t open,” LaFleur said. “We just kept working. There were some that didn’t want to fund it because they felt these types of facilities are too expensive and not worthwhile. They were able to hang up the funding for a awhile, but this is a needed juvenile facility.”

Johnson said Gov. John Bel Edwards wanted ACY to open before the session started, but also knew it could be one of the items cut from the budget.

“I had been hearing from people across Avoyelles Parish, asking when ACY would be open,” Johnson said. “We didn’t know until the last day if the funding would be available. Even the governor talked about the funding during his press conference after the budget passed."

START HIRING IN 90 DAYS

LaFleur said it should be enough money to start the hiring process in about 90 days, but felt most of the first round of hiring will be done in the next six months.

He estimated 60 of the 124 jobs will be filled in this round of hiring.

The $4 million for ACY is also on the same budget line as the cost for raising the age initiative and for major repairs at the Office of Juvenile Justice campuses.

LaFleur said the cost of hiring and training will come first. OJJ Secretary James Bueche said the entire $4 million will be used to get the Bunkie facility opened.

He said the state will start taking 17-year olds as juveniles in March 2019. Opening the Bunkie facility will help accommodate those older juveniles by accepting youth in March or April. Bueche also thanked LaFleur, Johnson and Johns for their help to secure funding for the facility.

ACY will need approximately $11 million a year to operate, but that figure could be less.

“We are excited that we can start the process of hiring and should be fully opened sometime in 2019,” Bueche continued. “We hope to have job fairs sometime in October or November to start the hiring process.”

He said a center director could be in place within 60 to 90 days. “It has been really frustrating sitting on a brand new facility that was empty,” Bueche said. “Almost everything has been furnished and there are just a few minor items that need to be added.”

ACY is a key feature in Louisiana’s 15-year effort to overhaul its juvenile justice system.

The center will provide a therapeutic approach, using therapy and other methods to rehabilitate youthful offenders as opposed to being run like a penitentiary for teenagers.