State Workers Paid Big Bucks To Do Almost Nothing?

MYFOXNY.COM - Some state workers make almost $90k to watch over juvenile detention facilities with no kids inside.

Taxpayers shell out about $3 million dollars a year to keep Tryon Detention Center open. Tryon is a juvenile detention facility located upstate New York in Fulton County.

And you can thank the New York State legislature for that bill. NY State Executive Law 501(15) requires the Office of Children's and Family Services to give at least 12 months notice before closing any facility. So even if the facility has zero kids inside by law it cannot be closed for at least a year.

When asked about it Tryon's union rep Frank Malagisi said, “No it’s not weird. That's to look out for people's families, New York State taxpayers' families. You wouldn't want someone to come to you and say you are out of a job tomorrow.”

When it comes to State Detention Facilities the empty Tryon Facility is the rule not the exception.

Commissioner Gladys Carrion tells Fox 5 News, “I inherited a system that has been a failure by any measure.”

Carrion says since 2008 she began reforms that included closing 16 upstate centers and group homes- saving $58 million dollars over a 2-year period.

But still only 661 juveniles are in the state system, and because of union rules and state law 2,134 employees watch over them. That comes to a cost of $228,000 dollars a year per kid in a secure facility and $298,000 dollars a year per kid in a non-secure facility. And all that money does little to keep these kids out of trouble, 88% of kids who leave the system get in trouble again.

Probation Commission Vincent Schiraldi tells Fox 5 News, “The quicker we can close these facilities that are underutilized, that are not good places for kids the more we will save the taxpayer.”

Right now it costs $169 million to run these facilities and New York City pays a big share of that cost- a share that city officials like Probation Commission Vincent Schiraldi want to cut down.

Schiraldi says, “Over the last 8 years we've reduced the number of kids in state run facilities by 62%. But the city is still going to pay 24 million more because the state keeps increasing the costs to pay for the staff that watch no kids.”

Commissioner Carrion tells Fox 5 News, “I think I could save a lot more money if I had the discretion to close facilities when we don't need them anymore.”

But Commissioner Carrion's cost cutting efforts make her a punching bag for unions that represent civil servants. C.S.E.A.’s representative, Stephen Madarasz says Carrion’s handling of the issue is “simply reckless and irresponsible.” And the unions have the support of many of the local legislators who have constituents that benefit from the relatively high-paying jobs.