If it were an anomaly, then perhaps the public would be more forgiving of the $1.17 million in overtime paid to Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility (HYCF) staff last fiscal year. But excessive overtime — accumulated by staffers including a farm manager, grounds-
keeper and corrections officers — has plagued the facility for years.
The overtime would be understandable had the inmate population at the facility skyrocketed, but the exact opposite has occurred. The number of youths housed there has dropped drastically to a mere 23, down from 80 to 90 several years ago.
Clearly, HYCF managers have been unable to keep their labor costs in line. A shakeup is in order at the correctional facility, where 14 corrections officers and supervisors and one human services professional were able to earn six-figure salaries thanks to generous overtime policies — all at the taxpayers’ expense.
That such mismanagement has been allowed to continue year in and year out is appalling and needs immediate attention.
Sen. Jill Tokuda, chairwoman of the Ways and Means Committee, rightly scolded leaders of the juvenile jail last week for just that: poor management and questionable spending.
Back in 2007, then-state Auditor Marion Higa issued an audit that showed more than a third of the annual earnings of 20 HYCF guards came from overtime, and the facility did not have a system for monitoring sick leave and overtime pay. A decade ago, in fiscal 2005, the facility paid $818,231 in OT to 54 guards at the Windward Oahu facility.
Fast forward to fiscal 2015: Nearly four dozen corrections officers and supervisors earned overtime, many boosting their base pay by more than 30 percent. For instance, one officer earned a base pay of $93,482 that year and worked the equivalent of about
36 hours a week in overtime throughout the year, earning an extra $43,895 in OT.
Further, a groundskeeper, auto mechanic, farm manager, nurse, maintenance supervisor and cooks also raked in overtime.
It’s mind-boggling how the farm manager boosted his base pay by 37 percent, earning a total of about $54,000, plus four weeks of comp time.
Managers point to multiple factors contributing to the excess earnings.
Mark Patterson, HYCF administrator, blamed “labor issues, workers compensation and things of that nature that normally cause vacancies” — but in the next breath, said he believes his managers are doing better than they have in the past. Unfortunately, the numbers say otherwise.
Even the current ratio of employees to inmates seems lopsided. And Patterson admitted to the Senate money committee that he has asked himself: “When I come to you folks, how do I justify a hundred employees to 23 children?”
It’s time to take a serious look at right-sizing and, ultimately, at better managing of a fractured system that is bleeding dollars.
The 2007 audit recommended that the facility develop and implement a formal system of monitoring overtime and sick leave usage of employees. Judging from the overtime figures, that must still be done. HYCF, which falls under the Department of Human Services, is asking for $1.13 million in overtime for the next fiscal year. Lawmakers cannot be the rubber stamp here, and must drill down on that request.
The facility houses adolescents who have committed serious crimes and who pose a risk to public safety, and there’s little doubt it could be a difficult environment in which to work. Yet that cannot be the excuse for maintaining the dubious status quo.
With so many needs coming before lawmakers — and not enough dollars — it would be inexcusable not to take a hard look at HYCF’s management and take meaningful steps to fix what is wrong.
