Providence Recreation Department in Chaos

Providence Recreation Department in Chaos

The City of Providence Recreation Department, which was rocked by recent accusations of sexual assault by a former coach who committed suicide, has had a tumultuous past two years. 

From the unveiling of major infrastructure deficiencies at recreation centers while the city considers a taxpayer-aided baseball stadium, to a public (and political) battle over the fate of the Davey Lopes pool after it was closed in 2013, the Providence Recreation Department has been plagued by serious issues -- and now the city will have to handle the fallout of a former coach with a criminal background who was allowed to interact with youth at the city's recreations centers. 

Is the department in chaos?

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SLIDES:  See the Providence Rec Department Controversies BELOW

"I've been talking about this for some time," said Providence City Councilwoman Sabina Matos of safety issues at the rec centers. "We don't have enough controls around who is in and out of the building -- some years we hire the same people, but we also hire temps --besides that, I don't think we have a good control who's in and out of the building."

A police report shows that on June 13, sexual assault charges were filed against Tyrone Dale, a coach who had previously plead nolo -- guilty --  to assault charges in 1992.  Following the charges, Dale hung himself. 

Coaching, Staffing Issues

“The City’s number one priority is to keep our children and family members safe. The charges that were made against Mr. Dale are intolerable, and the City took decisive action when it learned of them," said Evan England, spokesperson for Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza. "Mr. Dale was immediately suspended without pay from his part-time position in the Recreation Department and was prohibited from entering all schools, recreation centers and other municipal buildings while Providence Police continued to conduct its investigation."

"The well-being and safety of our children is our primary concern, and the City has counselors available at the West End Recreation Center and at Juanita Sanchez Educational Complex," continued England. "The Mayor has instructed the City's HR Departments to immediately evaluate the current policy regarding background checks and devise a plan for more stringent evaluations of employees who have contact with children.”

Matos said that she has been working for years -- to not avail -- to get tracking software into the rec centers.     

"Funding was allocated for software to track who's coming in and out -- like the YMCA has -- and we bought the software, to put the staff schedules into the software, but it hasn't been implemented," said Matos.  "I started the conversation with Park and Recreation in 2011. I think the software was purchased in 2012 or 2013, but we've yet to use it."

"I think the events of last couple of days call on us to look at greater scrutiny how people get chosen to be in close proximity to kids, and revisit our policies," said Providence City Council President Luis Aponte on Tuesday. 

Infrastructure

Aponte also spoke to the needs of the crumbling buildings -- and how they need to be addressed.

"At this point, our buildings are hodge-podge. Some have been stand alone, the newer ones have been added to our schools...the question is what's the best approach to providing recreational services? Maybe some of these buildings suffice, but the ones that are 'vintage', it might be a better use to co-locate with a school, or another community center," said Aponte.

"One of the things we use to do, we used to let rec directors be more entrepreneurial  and raise money from non-public sources," said Aponte.  "Each rec center could establish a support fund, businesses could support teams, from buying equipment, to provide trips (Water Country, at Pats game), all those things that the city can't provide."

"Under the Taveras administration, there was fear there were insufficient controls in place for individual rec center fundraising. I think that needs to be revisited," continued Aponte. "Given the current financial hardships, we don't have enough money to do the things that need to be done.  There are  partnerships to be had, and willing sponsors to be part of this.  We shouldn't bind directors' hands to raise outside funds, with the proper controls in place so those dollars go what they were intended for."

Matos said that a rec center infrastructure assessment would be forth coming shortly. 

"We've got CDBG funding in the budget that came from the Mayor's office to do a facility assessment,"said Matos, who then turned her attention back to the most recent events.

"It's unfortunate that it came to something like this," said Matos. "The center in my area used to have a pool.  It has a bunch of empty rooms people can get into.  As a mother, I don't want to think about what can happen. We should have had this conversation a long time ago."