Tuesday, May 15, 2007

4 fired superintendents brings total TYC employees canned to 93

Getting a promotion these days at the Texas Youth Commission is like being promoted to become one of Darth Vader's lieutenants in Star Wars - seeing the fate of those who preceded you, one may reasonably prefer to avoid the honor.

As of yesterday, an astonishing 93 people have been "suspended, terminated, or forced into retirement" reported Mike Ward at the Austin American Statesman ("Youth Commission suspends four superintendents," May 15). Ward's article answered several questions TYC employees raised in comments to this post (which as of this morning has received 409 comments - a Grits record!) about the fate of leaders at various units.

Here are the reasons TYC gave Ward for terminating four more superintendents on Monday, two of whom themselves replaced their fired predecessors less than two weeks ago:

•Eduardo Martinez, named acting superintendent of the Evins Regional Juvenile Center in Edinburg just two weeks ago to replace Bart Caldwell, who was terminated after being accused of policy infractions.

Hurley said Martinez was suspended with pay after being accused of failing to notify law enforcement and parents about an alleged sexual assault in March at Giddings State School, where he previously served as superintendent. Hurley said Martinez will be replaced, until the investigation of him is complete, by Melody Vidaurri, security coordinator at the agency's Austin headquarters.

•Blu Nicholson, named acting superintendent of the Crockett State School a week ago to replace Don Freeman, who was terminated after being accused of not following policy in disciplining an employee. Hurley said Nicholson was suspended "pending investigation of prior allegations of mistreatment of youth." Other officials said the allegations involve inadequate discipline he ordered for an employee who slapped a youth. Until the investigation is complete, Hurley said, Jerome Williams, a juvenile corrections official at the agency's Austin headquarters, will serve as acting superintendent.

•Debra Dick, superintendent of the Edna Tamayo House in Harlingen, who is accused of inappropriate use of state resources. Investigators said she had been accused of improper use of postage and overnight express services. Her interim replacement will be an assistant, Hurley said.

•Lisa Cook, superintendent of the McFadden Ranch in Roanoke, who is accused of interfering with the reporting and investigations of incidents at the facility. Her interim replacement will be an assistant, Hurley said. Investigators said there are allegations that she limited kids' and staff members' access to abuse and wrongdoing hot lines.

It seems like executive director Ed Owens didn't do a great job selecting new supers if two recent people he just promoted were terminated by the conservator within two weeks! I'd be very interested in seeing an analysis of those 93 employees to determine how many were sacked for cause, how many were ex-felons, and how many were actually linked to scandals at the agency.

I don't have a single problem cleaning house of employees who've abused kids or covered up wrongdoing by others, though such charges must be proven in an administrative hearing for terminations to stick. But the gal sacked for improper use of the Fed-Ex makes me think they're digging pretty deep into the well of violations to come up with a maximum number of firings, likely aiming to impress the media.

Well, they've impressed me, but not in a good way. Here's my impression: The conservator is hoping the public will confuse activity for achievement. He hopes that scores of terminations (most unrelated to any sex scandal) and shuttering two or three units will send a message to the public that the Governor and the Lege "did something" about TYC.

Don't get me wrong, TYC desperately needs to be revamped (as does TDCJ). I broadly support most of the reforms that made it into the major TYC legislation and think moving toward smaller units designed for juveniles and closer to the cities the kids come from heads in the right direction. I only think that to reform an agency, you need the support of the majority of workers who didn't do anything wrong and aren't responsible for the bad acts of their superiors or coworkers. The firing of a 56 year old man for a burglary committed at 19 (that the agency knew about when they hired him) does nothing to improve the agency and destroys both morale and institutional cohesion. Except for legislation that will reduce TYC's inmate population, nobody is addressing TYC's real problems.

I've heard (unconfirmed) rumors that Jay Kimbrough will probably be leaving as conservator soon after the Legislature goes away, though I have no idea of whether he'll be replaced as conservator or if after that Ed Owens will just be in charge. Either way, I'll bet you as soon as the Lege leaves town, the mass firings will cease and TYC will then launch a desperate new hiring campaign - what choice will they have?

202 comments:

1 – 200 of 202   Newer›   Newest»
Anonymous said...

Well, I know for a fact that Lisa Cooke is getting what she deserves, she allowed 4 sexual predators to prey on youth at McFadden for years before the AG and TDCJ shut her down.She has told the youth that they can't call the hotlines, but she is by no means alone...she had help, alot of it, 4 other employees are still there doing her dirty work and i would imagine they are working on "cleaning" house of any documents that may support it, as we speak...GREAT MOVE KIMBROUGH!! Don't stop there though...remove ALL the cancer from McFadden!

Gritsforbreakfast said...

Is the assistant who took her place one of those four?

Like I say, I don't beef at all with firing people who covered up, and I believe reforming the agency inevitably involves some housecleaning. My complaint is that it seems haphazard, and appointing new people then firing them a week later is the sign that management is flailing.

Anonymous said...

They should start "cleaning house" at the top, with the halfway house superintendent's boss. Where are they getting their direction from??? Isn't Karen Lashbrook, Admin of halfway houses, one of her buddies???

Anonymous said...

Grits...yep!Sherlon Didier..her flunky, I mean..replacement is who is in charge now.He is just as bad as her.

Anonymous said...

Karen Lashbrook...I am amazed that they have not gotten rid of her, that woman is so crooked, She was advised that a male staff member became violent with a female staff member at McFadden, but because the female had been a "whistleblower" they fired her!! The man still works there, he was a former TYC youth on top of it all! That place is like a daytime drama, so much scandal! You have everything there, sex, violence,corruption...its about damn time somebody did something.

Anonymous said...

Looks like the Quarterly Halfway House Meeting is going to be rescheduled again. Damn...By the time we have another one there will be no more Halfway House Superintendents. I agree 9:05 Lashbrook needs to evaluate her need in TYC.

Anonymous said...

9:19-you are so right. How much longer is it going to take for them to fire Karen? She knows everything that goes on at the halfway house level and lets the superintendents run the halfway houses any way they want. That means firing people for any reason and treating employees like shit. Now some of her own employees are getting a taste of it themselves!

Anonymous said...

OMG 9:19am Do the Rangers know about this? Someone needs to report it? If they suspect Lashbrook knows that this stuff is going on they need to investigate Lashbrook also? These are her halfway houses and she doesn't know this going on, yea right? Her people know what they can and cannot do? Machado down, Dick down, Cooke down, come on now....

Anonymous said...

Lashbrook needs to be removed ASAP..all the rest will fall for sure without her protection. Has ANYBODY ever had a grievance resolved properly from Lashbrook? Its a waste of time..she protects the superintendents!Time to get moving on Karen, now that Faith Campbell is gone...you are all alone!

Anonymous said...

I agree!! Move on Lashbrook, Cooke is down for the count, but before you go, you might want to make sure you take people with you..oh wait, that was Cooke that made that comment " If I am going down, I am taking people with me"

Anonymous said...

Dwight Harris is not here anymore, so her Austin love connection can't help her anymore. That's why she was able to get away with a lot of stuff and that's why she could cover up for her favorite superintendents who are half gone now. Watch out Corpus Christi!!!

Anonymous said...

tyc361,you say that like its a bad thing...if they need to go, they should! Not letting kids call the hotlines, why? What was she afraid of?? Can you say "cover-up"? Its about time that all of this stuff comes to light.

Anonymous said...

9:37 there have been alot of employee grievances that stop at Karen. Paula Morelock probably doesn't even know half the stuff that goes on with halfway house superintendents and staff. To keep Karen looking good she makes sure it stops at her. Yea Faith Campbell would not pass any info on to Karen's super. When does it come suspicous? How much can you cover for your superintendents before they start looking at the their supervisor? Three gone, who is next.

Anonymous said...

Grits, it's your blog and I'm certainly no expert on libel but don't you think some of these comments need modifying? You get a lot of traffic, so the word spreads around pretty quickly. I know if my name were being splashed around like this, you and I would be having a conversation. Maybe I'm overreacting. Just a thought.

Anonymous said...

10:07 go to another string.

Anonymous said...

10:07...ever heard of freedom of speech? These people put themselves in the position they are in, nobody forced Cooke to rip phones out of abused kids hands, nobody forced Lashbrook to cover-up all of the complaints, maybe YOU are afraid because you are involved in this mess? Just a thought..that i am entitled to by law!

Anonymous said...

10:52 Na, not afraid at all and am not in the middle of anything. Sure I have heard of freedom of speech that's why we are all posting. I can post names, positions, how I feel, anything I want on this blog and you can't fire me.

Anonymous said...

10:52

The post was for Grits, not a meddling butt lick like you. So, bite me.

TyCpsych said...

OK all I can say is that TYC is still in alot of trouble there are staff everywhere that do not qualify for the jobs the hold much less the ones they supervise.
The staff who report violations to the supervisors are still made to feel they are the problem not the solution and the moral is a complete joke.
As far as I can tell we had a out of touch uncaring admin before and we have a new out of touch admin now nothing new has happened. THe TDCJ sataff like Pope are still talking about promoting people based on the I like you rather than the your qualified and do a good job. It has been a huge disappointment for alot of us.

Anonymous said...

I hope they put the dirt bags in jail and hang on to the people who had no part in all of this dirty business. I want to know how many of the employees fired for felony records were involved with the sexual abuse or the cover up. I think if Kimbrough had even one of the fired felons he could put on the front page for some wrong doing it would have already happened!

We must have had a bunch of sex perverts running TYC. I am ashamed to let anyone know where I work because they might think I am ok with wierd stuff. Time for a new job but how will I explane where I been working? There are no adult book stores or peep shows around here where I could use my TYC employment as a positive point.

Just trying to be funny, I dont want no prevert job.

Anonymous said...

11:51
Hey calm down, no need to call names. But, why are you getting so defensive? What happened? Tell us your side of the story. I think that I am speaking for the majority of us (TYC employees) when I say that this has been a long time coming as far as something finally being done about the good ol boys and gals getting fired. As a TYC employee, I know first hand that nothing was ever done and allegations would never go higher to the point that somebody was ever even disciplined. How many complaints and grievances does a superintendent have to have before somebody looks into it? We finally have a voice because this invesitagation has come to light, that's the only reason. And I hate to say that because of the youth that were abused.

Anonymous said...

Bottom line is this...a majority of "old school" TYC employees have never known anything else but turning the other way and avoiding dealing with all the issues, thats why we are in the mess we are in today. This didn't happen overnight.We need to change the way problems are dealt with or we will face the same problem again.I say anybody there over 10 years needs to be taken aside and "de-programmed" and we all need to be on the same page with this.

Anonymous said...

1:58
You make a good point and I agree with you to a certain extent. But I don't believe for one second that "a majority of "old school" TYC employees have never known anything else but turning the other way and avoiding dealing with all the issues". They didn't turn the other way and avoid dealing with all of the issues, they covered it up and lied about it. That's what makes me sick about this whole deal.

Anonymous said...

I think that a lot of this is a long time coming, but it does seem like it is picking up speed as the legislature winds down this session. I bet that there will be a few more people out the door before the month is out, and it will be plastered all over the news. I wonder who will be next?

Anonymous said...

2:20 I agree..They are still covering stuff up while TYC is still be investigated. Don't these high level people learn. They still think they are untouchable and no one is going to snitch on them.

Eddie G. Griffin said...

Thanks Grits for visiting my site, because I am a great admirer of your work with on the state legislative issues, particularly the TYC case and the legislation growing out of it.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I agree with most of you all in this blog, Lashbrook must go. But I can say this, I work for one of the supers who was suspended, and I can tell you that she is above board and is not a favorite of Lashbrooks. She is firm but fair. In fact, Lashbrook is out for her, has been since she(super)feels that from herself down need to be treated with respect. Unless you work for her, you have no right to judge her. Stamps, please, this is all that TYC can accuse my boss of, sorry state if you ask me. We know what staff member has her head up the behind of Lashbrook, we are not stupid. Why doesn't she leave, so unhappy, leave, we would love it if she did. Trouble makers beware, we are watching. You can put that in your envelope, seal it and mail it, but make sure you don't use the postage meter, we are watching you!!!!

Anonymous said...

Abuse a kid, no problem.
Take a stamp, your fired.

Anonymous said...

TO: anonymous10:07am:

I would sincerely like to thank ALL those State Officials that allowed and continue to allow Melvin Haisler to continue working in his present position as Acting Superintendant at the Marlin Orientation and Assessement Unit. It was a close call for Melvin this past two days. He has been a bright star in this whole matter to Jerome Parsee. Melvin and the gang are some slick cat's. Melvin just stood by and even assisted in a cover-up while others below him were abused, both employees and youth. He just does not remember that he could have stop this entire mess approxiamately FOUR years ago. He could have been a HERO and put a stop to the abuse at West Texas. Unfortunately his TYC paycheck, I mean TYC paycheck's meant more to him than those under his care and supervision. We need more like Melvin Haisler in TYC. How do ya like that 10:07am. Their allot of past, present and former employees that would like to see this piece of trash removed for what he didn't do and all the support he gave that other piece of trash Parsee. Libel my ---. There is no libel when it comes to these two fools.

Anonymous said...

I know for a fact that the sup at Tamamyo is great........I live in the community and she is well respected and always has the kids well being first. TYC needs to stop this anonymous tip line and get out here and see what is really going on. You are slandering peoples names in the newspapers. I can see getting rid of the bad apples but Debbie is not one of them. Just look at the turnover rate there and that speaks for itself.

Anonymous said...

I just want to know what they are going to do about all the administrators who have been allowed to retire or were terminated? Are charges going to be forthcoming? Or do they get off scott free? Free to have other jobs or in some cases, enjoy retirement. However, those still employed do not know from one day to the next if we will continue to have a job. Where is the justice in this?

That administrator at Pyote who was there when the sexual abuse was going on should be the first to be punished along with the former executive director. How can these two sleep at night after ruining the lives of youth, parents and employees? Employees have been fired for offenses that they have done time for and have paid their debt to society. They are paying the piper twice. What a shame.It's high time those administrators pay too.

We have been fingerprinted, asked for proof a high school or GED diploma or a college transcript. What else is next? Dedicated loyal employees are paying the price for what these so called high level administrators did. What is wrong with that picture? Quit pointing fingers at each other and start standing together. Together we can make TYC a better and greater agency. Start writing your public officials and ask that these people be punished. They helped abuse the youth by their sheer arrogance and abuse of power. Amen.

Anonymous said...

I hate to say this and please don't think I'm trying to give myself any "props" on this, I'm not. But, previously I posted a lengthy suggestion and outline of how the grievance system for both staff and students should be revamped (a computerized system with daily log-ins if necessary to show each student had access). Denying the students access to phones was one of the concerns I raised with why the system should be computerized and done so in the manner I proposed. The Superintendent's suspension/firing for denying the students' access to the hotline phones (and apparently there are still more doing it from what other posters are saying) supports my point that this really happens. There is a way to prevent this. I'm asking that those in charge of making the new OIG office and system to report these grievances and investigations- please take a look at my suggestion. There is a workable, relatively low-cost and easy to use way to prevent staff from doing the very thing this Superintendent and others are doing in denying student access in reporting issues (in my opinion).
Pinpoint

Anonymous said...

I agree we need a new grievance system. The one we have is awful. We have an issue, we write a grievance, it goes to our boss ( who is now suspended/fired)or her boss, who needs to be ( Lashbrook)
either way..nothing gets done, they collect their paychecks while they fire the people who do the right thing and speak up, the lesson learned, unless you want to be unemployed, shut-up..whats the world coming to?I think they should let the people who do/did the right thing take over..I'm sure they can handle it better then these liars! I also agree its sad that postage gets somebody suspended,when there are real crimes going on in TYC, how about we remove the guard who used to be a TYC youth that now threatens female staff? TOO many big issues to deal with the small ones..just my opinion.

Anonymous said...

For clarity - the offical word is all four are currently suspended pending investigation.

"Pending investigation" being key. I think if anyone reads all of the posts on this blog from TYC employees, you'll see a lot of accusations - some come from facts, some come from people's vivid imaginations and some from vindictiveness. All these people are suspended until the investigators will decide what they believe to be true. Those of us who know the people involved have our own opinions.

Maybe the reason it seems haphazard is because it is.

Anonymous said...

Has ANYBODY said anything about Lashbrook to investigators??? How can they remove everybody below her and not see she has let them do these things? Come on people...Im not a genius, but i can see that one

Anonymous said...

dwts, I DO know what i am talking about. I do know the people they are speaking about,I know for a fact that at least one of those suspended should NEVER return to TYC,she really deserves to be in prison!

Anonymous said...

dwts, are you one of those that "turned the other way" to all of this? Obviously, these people did something wrong, or they wouldn't be in the position they are in.My pity goes for the JCO staff, the caseworkers, people without Lashbrook's backing that try to do the right thing, its easy to look away and its hard to stand up for whats right when your income depends on it, well, it is for some people. For some, right is right and wrong is wrong.

Anonymous said...

I agree with 7:21 pm. Jay K needs to see the program, talk with the kids and staff, he would be surprised. What was the result of the inspections that were done, from what I know, they turned out great. I tell you, she is one of the supt that stands up to Lashbrook and does not treat staff like crap. How many of you have been around this supt, most people have not. I work at ERJC and was able to be around her in training. Not only was she a nice person, she is funny. The staff with her are happy, and in other trainings I have been in with them, they do not complain about their job, their boss, how mistreated they feel. The guys say they are happy. It is a shame that this is happening to their boss, it is really a case of misjustice. I bet if they did a survey of the kids that have been there, they would see from them and the parents how much they respect the program and the staff. As far as the supt from San Antonio, she should of been gone years ago, that is a case of Lashbrook covering for her supts. Now the question is, when are they going to figure out how bad things are in Corpus. Shoot, Caldwell may of sucked at ERJC, but you did not hear crap about York when he was there. I will not miss the man, but he was in over his head.

Anonymous said...

Karen needs to go...

Anonymous said...

and which one needs to be in prison?

Anonymous said...

what just floors me is how do those who are doing or have done bad thing's think it won't come out now??They are STILL doing this stuff! Either people are really stupid or just crazy! If you are/have done bad things, do us all a favor...QUIT! Before they find out ( and they will!)We could all use some drama-free days!

Anonymous said...

COOKE needs to be behind bars, and she knows why. Stop fighting Cooke, give up before you go away for a LONG time, resign BEFORE they find out...EVERYTHING

Anonymous said...

Isn't McFadden the place thats like a "cult"? Thats what i have heard..creepy, next to an old graveyard or something? I have heard they have had exorcisms there..sick people

Anonymous said...

Is McFadden a state agency? Wow, a cult? thats just crazy

Anonymous said...

Tell us how bad it is in Corpus. It seems like everything is good with all their new toys. She has not been with TYC very long but she seems hand picked by Lashbrook and San Antonio sup. I think the asst came from Crockett.

Anonymous said...

cults, sexual predators, it sounds like McFadden could give West Texas a real run for the most twisted facility

Anonymous said...

Well, first off, hand picked by Lashbrook and Machado, if that does not say it all, what can. Dumb and Dumber - When Lashbrook met Machado. Now the three stooges, Lashbrook, Machado, and Lucio. Every staff has left, been fired, on FMLA. Hmmm, I guess we can all deduct who trained her.

Anonymous said...

yep! A real twisted atmosphere, blind pony, a goat, two dogs and some of the most perverted volunteers i have ever dealt with in my life! When they were told they couldn't hug and touch the kids, most didn't come back!! Its like a crazy circus there

Anonymous said...

I went to McFadden once, it is a little strange, i heard a student call a staff mama! I left quickly after the hugging started, not for me!LOL

Anonymous said...

So, do you think that the people in Austin read these things? If they gave a crap, maybe they would, then they would find out what is really going on.

Anonymous said...

I heard Machado cleaned house at several halfway houses before she was caught shredding. Lashbrook just moved her around. What's mediation?

Anonymous said...

I can personally say that I know for a fact that Lisa Cooke has resticted access to the hotline number's and changed youth and staff statements, i know because she fired me for saying something about it to the AG's office! Yes, Lisa..I will make sure you get plenty of credit for all the wrong doing you have had a hand in! Thanks Mr. Kimbrough
Vendictive? No..Bitter, No...I will get my job back after they "santitize" my work environment, at least thats what i have heard..it looks like they are doing a pretty good job so far! Keep up the great work!

Anonymous said...

Cleaned house, you mean staff, yes. I heard that she even fell asleep at a conference with a family, nodded off right in front of them. I guess all that cleaning. What was she shredding anyway? Oh, maybe stamps?

Anonymous said...

I think alot of people in some powerful places read these things, things get done with Scotts blog...he is awesome!!!

Anonymous said...

Once again all these TYC staff trashing TYC folks based upon some pass transgression (and this is not the reason they were suspended) but you have to get your licks in.

When the show is on the other foot and they are walking you out for not making a phone call, or sending an e-mail. Come on folks anyone in their right mind cannot look at this and call it for what it is "Grandstanding".

When was the last time the news was called prior to suspending someone, giving all the details. This was not even necessary but it all about the headlines. And the sad thing about all this is some of you folks are piling on. And guess what they will all be back in their office next week and you will still be sitting their scheming.

Why don't some of GROW some and deal with these issues of abuse and neglect are taking place like you claim rather than waiting for them to be walked out the door, and then start pointing fingers.

Anonymous said...

Hey 8:51, you better believe Central reads this. They have their comments also. Tommorrow they will open this string up and run and tell everyone. I wouldn't be surprised if we get more comments like 10:07 to Grits.

Anonymous said...

Hey Mr. White or Ms. Lee if you are reading these, you should just know, its too late, you are on the chopping block too!Enjoy Mass MommaLee, before you know it, you and Lonnie will have alot of free time, so you won't need to have sex in the office anymore!

Anonymous said...

Hey Chuy, I did "GROW" some. I am not one of those ass kissers who waits till they are fired to speak up, I spoke up! I have never been fired in my life, but I will tell you something..it was a proud moment for me to be fired from that place!!I will NEVER stand by and watch people treat kids like crap...just because they could. When i was told "don't give that kid a phone call" I sure the hell did give it to him...and I would do it again!

Anonymous said...

Chuy needs to go to another string

Anonymous said...

Sanitize your work environment 8:54? That sounds like they are "cleaning house" where you were working, good for you and good luck!

Anonymous said...

8:59 ok- ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Blue light! Blue light!

Where they heck do they work so I sure don't have to touch that desk?????

Anonymous said...

Chuy must be close to one of those friends of Lashbrook. Hey Chuy, tell Lashbrook she isn't going to be there much longer, maybe she should clean out her desk, I heard they gave her buddy Faith Campbell 10 minutes and had security walk her out, i wish i had been there with a camera phone! Priceless!

Anonymous said...

McFadden ranch, you will need gloves!LOL
Lots of action going on there, a kid was having sex with a volunteer and another kid walked in on them, of course,he told everybody during "core" group, well, we were not allowed to report it for "confidentiality" reasons...yeah right, Hello? Is this the hotline..I need to report a crime! ;-)

Anonymous said...

wow, what goes on at McFadden, stay's at mcfadden, huh?

Anonymous said...

Don't even try and stop them from going on about it all Chuy. This is just like the Freeman string and that thing has gone over 450 posts now. If this one is going to be anything like it, you might as well throw that towel in.

Anonymous said...

Maybe they should shut that place down? Is that a halfway house?

Anonymous said...

9:18- just a word of advice if you haven't already. I would run, no fly to that phone and report what you just said about the student having sex with the volunteer. If you have not, you're just as liable as she is.

Anonymous said...

Yep, they told us not to but it was reported, the volunteer has been banned and is facing criminal charges

Anonymous said...

thats good that they did something with that volunteer, i am thinking it was the rangers who probably removed her, right?

Anonymous said...

yes, she was one of Cooke's buddies, so of course she didn't ask her to leave,she used to wear PJ's and come hang out with the boys for late night.

Anonymous said...

Just FYI - I didn't say what my opinion was, or that I thought this particular string was fact or something else. Why do you assume the 'something else' applied to you? If you read everything everybody has said on all these different posts, you just have to wonder. For all I know, all the accusations on these four are true - I'm just willing to wait for an investigation before I pass judgment because I don't know what the truth is.

Anonymous said...

Did Cooke's super know any of this was going on? I am sure Willoughby House just happened also. Lashbrook is covering up for her sups. What is this woman's excuse for all these incidents?

Anonymous said...

How could Lashbrook NOT know? The superintendents are "required" to report serious incidents and allegations. I think it is clear that Lashbrook has done a great job of covering up all of her superintendents crap. Until now??? I hope so!!! I'm waiting for the Texas Rangers to investigate Lashbrook.

Anonymous said...

9:47
Thanks for understanding. Because if you have not worked under any of the four mentioned above, then you have NO IDEA!

Anonymous said...

8:55 She was caught shredding altered grievance reports from Faith Campbell and orders to do it from Lashbrook. Maybe her employee termination list for the next quarter.I am assuming. I don't really know but wouldn't that be funny.

Anonymous said...

tyc512-does it really matter what she was shredding? There was a directive not shred and the next day that's exactly what she did. She must have forgotten her rai that day...or did she think that Lashbrook would be able to "bail" her out again? No pun intended!

Anonymous said...

Cooke's supervisor is Lashbrook, she KNEW everything! That woman is just a piece of work, while she was sick with worry about my safety after a male staff member came after me, she was signing the papers to terminate me, yeah...a heart of gold. You can always count on her to do the wrong thing. I swear, Cooke could be standing there with a bloody knife over a body and Lashbrook would quote PRS policy on what Cooke did right and how she was within her authority, makes you wonder what they are covering up for each other doesn't it?

Anonymous said...

Why does this woman (Lashbrook) still have her job? She needs to be reported to the Texas Rangers.

Anonymous said...

10:12 Sounds like she (Lashbrook) was worried about her job and Central not finding out.

Anonymous said...

The reason York has people leaving and on FMLA is becasue Bart let them get away with doing nothing and when Ms. Lucio came in she started holding people accountable and those grwon ass men couldn't take it from a woman and bailed........She runs that house by the book.......and is firm but fair just like Tamayo.....so quit hating on people who do their jobs and don;t let the slackers get away with it. Now Karen I am not sure how to read her but if there is dirt it will come out.....

Anonymous said...

Keep it in the family!!!

Melvin Haisler and Jerome Parsee will not get arrested for a felony crime. If they do one of them will Rat out Lydia Banard and she will give up her kissen cousin Rick Perry. Bet she has evidence on Rick knowing about the sex play and this is why she has not been arrested. Charles Bales suffered from selective memory to help out the important folks and cover his ass when interviewed by the TX Rangers.

Anonymous said...

Karen, you call her Karen? Sounds like you are a friend of hers. Just wait, she will burn you.

Anonymous said...

All I know is the staff and I want our supt back. I hope the people in austin wake up and send her back to work tomorrow. Ms. Debbie walks the talk, she is the first supt I have worked with who worked her way up, helps with ta's, transporting, running groups. we can go in her office any time to discuss problems and if we have family emergencies she finds some one to work for us. there have not been any grievances against her for 3 years, and just a few from disgruntle staff who tried to burn all of us, haters. we are strong, we will continue to run our program the way she wants us to, for the kids, but mainly for our team.

Anonymous said...

Thats how they answer the phone. "This is Karen" "This is Lisa" They make themselves sound almost friendly.Almost, But spend a few minutes talking with them. I heard that Cooke let an employee who ran out of gas borrow some from the facility and then fired him the next day for stealing.It must be great to feel so much power, she will miss it now that its gone. She always said JCO staff needs to know their place, well...we are at work Cooke, where are you?LOL

Anonymous said...

11:00...I hope she comes back, as somebody who has been wrongfully terminated, I know how she feels, but if she isn't guilty of anything, she will be back, have faith TYC cant afford to lose the good ones now.

Anonymous said...

Anon 10:41
You say that Lucio runs York "by the book". By the book my a$$, I'm sure she has learned by now how to get away with stuff by her boss Lashbrook!

Anonymous said...

All this talk about Mcfadden,this place is falling apart since we have lost staff that the kids respected and listened to, in one week, we have had restraints,physical fights between youth, and then 2 kids escaped yesterday, we still haven't found them! This stuff just doesnt happen here, now its just crazy.

Anonymous said...

10:03 Good luck on your escapes. At other halfway houses the employees are terminated for youth escaping.

Anonymous said...

I am sure that our supervisors will place the blame on one of us, the kids were gone for 2 hours before anybody noticed. Its sad that our focus wasn't on the kids, it hasn't been.

Anonymous said...

Just curious. From the information I have read which came mostly from Grits, Lydia Barnard seemed to be in the middle of the scandal. She should have known about it fairly early on and if for some unbelievable reason she didn't, she was clearly not performing her duties. My question, that I think relates to this string regarding suspensions of some staff and not of others, should Ms. Barnard's supervisor have known what was going on or not. I heard only a very brief comment about a Murdoch that would also be taken care of. Any insight? by Really

Anonymous said...

Lydia Barnard seemed to only be concerned with making things look good. She swept stuff under the rug in the hopes that it would go away. But as we all know it came back from "under the rug" and bit TYC in the ass. But the TYC scandal is not all to blame on Lydia Barnard, she was just doing the same things that everyone else did in Central Office. Making it all look good even though the agency was headed for disaster.

Anonymous said...

11:38 Murdoch or Morelock?

Anonymous said...

Oh there's alot more names than just Marie Murdoch in that chain that are still around. Tommy Bayes, ALL the TYC attorneys STILL THERE who not only had FULL knowledge but did nothing to step in, the two supervisors directly in charge of the TYC investigators, yes, the newly appointed Crockett Superintendent Jerome Williams who was Chester Clay's henchman, all the secretaries and clerical staff who saw this information right and left who said nothing, all the staff who knew about the information floating out there and said nothing, etx. There's a whole lot more heads that should roll if they really want to hold EVERYONE involved accountable.

Anonymous said...

I bet they eventually will get rid of a bunch more, but you know that they can't fire everybody at one time. Who would be there to run the agency?

Plus, they have to give Ed Owen's friends at TDCJ enough time to clean out their old offices and move over to TYC.

Anonymous said...

I meant Murdoch. I don't think I have heard the name Morelock yet. I had heard that Murdoch was Barnard's supervisor. The entry after mine did refer to Marie Murdoch and indicated people such as secretaries knew about either the abuses or the cover ups. That certainly makes logical sense but is there really anyway of verifying to the point of taking action. It sounds from these posts that too many staff are being "suspended or let go" for reasons not related to the primary investigation. The one regarding the 50 plus year old man with the felony when he was 19 is especially unbelieveable which if true only discredits the actions being taken and serves to further demoralize the existing staff. by Really

Anonymous said...

Morelock is Lashbrook's boss, Lashbrook is in charge of Halfway Houses, I say in charge...but I mean in charge of the corruption!

Anonymous said...

Marie Murdock was not Lydia Barnard boss, she was a director like her than was demoted or moved over to a new position. Marie Murdock is a fair woman, no nonsense, that is why she was moved over from being a director. She, from what I understand, tried to hold Freeman accountable and got in trouble for it. Morelock, she is a different story. She is Lashbrook's boss. She is personal friends with the Perry's. Has lunch with Anita Perry at times, she tells all her people about it. That is why Lashbrook still has a job, she covers for her. That is why she is still there. Jay does not want to piss off Rick now does he? Tommy Bayes, Jeanette Burke, Mike Lukoviack, Jerome Williams in charge of state schools, scary. Lashbrook over anyone is a crime. People, talk is cheap, if you have a legitimate complaint you have a duty to call the hotline. We are slamming people like clerks for not reporting, what about all of us in here? It won't change unless you speak up and report the unjustice.

Anonymous said...

Marie Murdoch may not have been Barnard's boss but's she's been involved in enough cover ups to carpet over the Texas coastline. She tried to hold Freeman acountable? OH PLEASE! She was on that campus when the first suspension happened on Freeman. She saw first hand what was going on and after all was said and done, Freeman came back. She's still working for TYC! She must not have been too upset with Freeman getting off scott free or she would have left.

Anonymous said...

Tommy Bayes is running a campus? Where?

Anonymous said...

Anon 1:53
You are right, we need to report what's going on. But I think that a lot of TYC employees (including myself) are still in fear of retaliation and termination. I hate to say that but it is true.

Anonymous said...

Wait a minute 12:02...didn' you get it backwards? I thought TYC was cleaning up their offices so that TDCJ could take over...have I been misinformed? I thought TYC was the shrinking violator.

Anonymous said...

Hey 1:53...cheer up. Haven't you heard? THEY ARE FIXING TYC!!!!! You don't have to worry about retaliation any more. Everything will be perfect real soon!

Anonymous said...

Tell that to Anthony Mikulastik and all the other felony people they fired for nothing.

Anonymous said...

Jeanette Burke is in charge of a campus?

Anonymous said...

I thought Jeanette Burke took over Faith Campbell's position?

Anonymous said...

Does anybody know what the procedure is when someone is suspended? Or does anybody know how long it takes for the termination process to be completed?

Anonymous said...

Actually 2:05 Marie Murdoch was over Crockett at the time of Freeman's suspension. She refused to supervise Freeman and was against his reinstatement as Superintendent. For this she was removed as the Juvenile Corrections Director overseeing Crockett and replaced with Lydia Bynard. My experience with her was positive. She told it to you straight and supported you when you were right.

Anonymous said...

I am tried of all this rumor and innuendo. Can't you all stop this insanity. You all are not looking at this properly. There is only one person who can fix, clean-up and make things right with the legislature, public, the youth, the parents, the DA's and the Texas Ranger's, and make TYC what it once was.

Kimbrough, Owens and the Governor need to appoint Melvin Haisler Act Super. at Marlin as Director of TYC. Then all will be well.

Anonymous said...

What I want to know is how in the hell does Tommy Bayes still have a job? I figured he'd be long gone by now...I guess maybe he barhops with some well-connected folks from the Governor's office too...oh well, I guess some of us just didn't get drunk with the right people. Live and learn:) Party on Tommy!

Anonymous said...

to anon at 11:00..."I hope she comes back ...but if she isn't guilty of anything, she will be back, have faith TYC cant afford to lose the good ones now.

It would have to be a pretty serious leap of faith to believe the people in charge actually care about TYC, its employees or its mission. You don't have to actually be guilty to be suspended or terminated or have your name published in all the papers. TYC has and will continue loosing the "good ones", not just the guilty.

Anonymous said...

8:09 PM you are right about people not having to be guilty of anything and still lose their job. There are many people in TYC who got on the bad side of certain superintendents and assistant superintendents, then found themselves out of work. Luckily those administrators are the ones who have been fired or suspended. I believe that what goes around, comes around, and it finally came back around to them.

Anonymous said...

If someone would let us know exactly what's going on at some point...staff shortage might not be a concern. Many people are tired of the feeling of impending doom, so not only are they looking for another job, they can't wait until they find one. It's hell waking up on shaky ground every day.

Anonymous said...

You are absolutely right 8:32....what goes around comes around. It's about time too!

Anonymous said...

Well I'm sorry you feel that way Robin Hood, I really am. But if you take a closer look at it all, you'll see in the initial report that broke in the Dallas Morning News, what my involvement or knowledge of what was occurring was and what I did about it. In fact, you can dig a little deeper and find that I have two that are currently involved with TDCJ (on parole) or currently incarcerated for similar sexual misconduct with children.

The first occurred at CRTC when I was an investigator on that campus, and his name was Billy Thomas. The second was a caseworker at Marlin, Lewis Rice, who sexually assaulted that incoming female. He's currently in prison.

If you read the initial investigation report disclosed by the Dallas Morning News regarding the Brookins situation, you'll see that I went to Superintendent Harrison's house after learning what I learned, and quit frankly let him know that he needed to resume his administration. I can’t make anyone do anything – I’m not a supervisor.

And Robin Hood, back then, I was charged with helping with the monitoring of TYC's population crisis given the hurricane that devastated the Al Price campus. Yes, I, as well as my colleagues, served as coverage in those gyms. That was a crazy time.

But here are the facts Robin Hood, and I thank a good friend on mine who alerted me to these blog comments:

1. I am not running any campus nor do I plan to, as of this posting; I think the field has many more that are capable than me;

2. I'm not connected with Rick Perry or his people - never met them;

3. I didn't choose who supervised me, and I have never supervised ANYONE since I was first employed at TYC in 1994;

4. If you'd like, especially you Robin Hood, I invite the TDCJ investigators to polygraph me with no notice. I am more than willing to clear my name;

5. And if they don't choose that option, I invite you to call me yourself, or file a grievance on me, or whatever it takes. Let the visiting law enforcement officers investigate, doesn't matter to me.

To the remainder of you who have your heart right, and know what we are dealing with is serious, and that our agency is in need of change, may you be wise in that fact, and be part of the solution and not the problem. God Bless... and I am available, -tommy

Anonymous said...

The worse thing about these anonymous blogs is "It Takes No Courage" to attempt to front out a person that you have no courage to do so in person. Just blog it and try to drag someones name down.

You folks that do this are probably the same ones getting "Punked" on your dorms.

Anonymous said...

Tommy Bayes. How dare you. How dare you come on this blog and try to act innocent. You were Lydia Barnard's hatchet man for YEARS. You f*&^%^$d a lot of people. YOU helped cover up so many things they can't be counted. If you had ANY moral fabric as you are trying to come on here with, you'd walk straight into the investigator's den and tell them everything. Until you do that, you get what you deserve here.

9:22- people are anonymous because people get PUNKED every day here by the administration. No one is safe. Even the GOOD ones.

Unknown said...

I've seen a couple of comments here dogging on Faith Campbell. Ya'll need to leave her alone. I've been around TYC a long time and I never saw one person do as much to make sure kids complaints got heard. She went in front of Executive Council every three months and told Harris, Reyes, Chester Clay and all the rest exactly what the kids were complaining about. She also named names when it came to which superintendents did something about it and which didn't. Anybody who can p!$$ off that many superintendents that often must be pretty good at her job.

Anonymous said...

Faith Campbell got canned because she was a FELON..and YES, I have proof, I am not just saying that either, ASK HER!She ran to superintendent's and let them know if they had grievances filed against them as soon as she got them, then they would get "lost" in a pile on her desk until her buddies could make up stuff to fight it, she did this for a long time..she deseved to be fired

Anonymous said...

9:56, Faith Campbell is NOT a felon. I know this for a fact. Ask her yourself. And unlike most of those who've been escorted out she's still just on admin leave. There's a very good chance she'll be back.

Gritsforbreakfast said...

Y'all, I don't want to start moderating comments on TYC posts, but it may come to that. Before I do anything that radical, though, a brief word about libel and commenter protocol:

1. Current case law says a blogger (me) is not responsible for commenters (y'all)so if you screw up you're on your own.

2. An absolute sure-fire 100% slam-dunk libel case is when you accuse someone of committing a crime and they did not do it or weren't convicted in court. That's why reporters use the words "alleged," "accused," and similar language. If an accused person is acquitted and you called them a criminal or a felon, you libeled them. Please stop doing that, or caveat the accusations.

3. IMPORTANT: I do not know whether Google keeps records that would match anonymous comments to IP addresses. I know I don't have that information and cannot tell the identity of anonymous commenters, but I can't guarantee that in a lawsuit Google might not retain it somewhere in a way that could match comments to computers. Be forewarned.

4. It's a waste of time to try to guess the identity of individual commenters. I know the identity of some commenters through private emails and have not seen a correct guess.

5. Guilt by association on these strings is getting old for me, and those types of accusations ("you were Lydia Barnard's hatchet man") that don't contain facts to back it up make these comments a LOT less useful and functional for everyone.

Try to keep it civil, folks - the name calling doesn't really help much and drives reasonable people away. And the accusations are bordering on paranoia. Breathe, people! Remain calm! It's going to be okay. Session is nearly over then maybe y'all can focus on putting the pieces back together. At that point, it will be good if everyone doesn't hate each other! Best,

Anonymous said...

Grits- what if you accuse someone of a "policy" violation but not a break of an actual law (criminal or civil)? That's what most of the complaints against others are. Policies are not laws. Is that libel?

Anonymous said...

Oops...folks, we've definitely got some anger out there. I have to sympathize with my fellow employees in the field. There have been many times that Central Office staffers visited our facility and ran over to security, looked around to see if the floors were shiny and the dust bunnies were out of the corners - and then left. Many of us had things we wanted to discuss, but our Superintendent was more interested in diversion than allowing us any opportunity to discuss anything, or heaven forbid, report anything.

I'm not saying this is true of all superintendents...I think there are/were some good ones around...but that's pretty much history now. Anyway, my point to this is, if nothing else comes out of all of this mess, I hope the new leadership will make sure that they listen to what the staff out in the field are tying to say - and make sure there is someone available to listen. We hope we will all have out own OIG at some point, and I think this will really help. But still, CO needs to remain CONNECTED and not just show up for the good old 'dog and pony' show now and then. We have learned that just doesn't work.

Gritsforbreakfast said...

@10:42 - first, truth is always a defense, so don't get too paranoid about libel if you're accurate.

As for policies vs. laws, I'm not a lawyer and can't say for certain. I don't think it's quite as cut and dried for mere policies, usually, but with the stakes so high and people losing their jobs for violating policies, I'd say there's a risk of it reaching the libel threshold if it's inaccurate, especially if there appears to be a malicious mentality behind the accusation.

I certainly am not trying to shut down comments or limit speech, and most of the comments I've seen far and away aren't libelous. But when I start seeing unsubstantiated allegations that someone committed a crime or should be in prison, it sends up a red flag and risks getting the writer in trouble for the reasons mentioned, so I thought I'd say something. best,

Anonymous said...

10:22
Just had a question about Faith campbell, if "she's still just on admin leave" then why has her name been removed from the e-mail? Just asking!

Anonymous said...

Someone just told me about this site and after reading the comments, I have to add mine. All of the firings are confusing as some people that have direct involvement with the WTSS scandal have not been plastered all over the news recently. Why is it that Chip Harrison was allowed to quietly retire when he did not file the AMI? He should have been fired right then. Why did it take so long for the agency to fire Lydia Barnard? Why isn't anyone looking into Chester Clay, who knew about the sexual abuse? Is being retired a protection? Why is it that the Superintendent of Education is still employed? She supervised the WTSS principal and argued strongly to the Legal Department and to Administration that he should not be investigated. She said that the agency was ruining a good man. Isn't that covering up? Things just don't add up and this new administration is just interested in political grandstanding and not really making things better for the kids and the public. Don't expect any good things to come from this.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your comments TB. There are so many slanderous remarks on people within TYC that have no bearing. Everyone that is trashing people need to be more focused on the changes TYC is making and look to the future. Seems to me "those" that are being so immflammatory need to have the magnifying glass over them. If they in fact are so hateful and vindictive to post these comments they need counseling, and I for one would not want them counseling any kids at TYC. Guilty dog barks first, I am real suspicious of the dog that has been barking and slandering the loudest. I think from "all" of "his" posts, some anon and some not we can all figure out who I am referring to. Get a life.. move on.. your party is over.

Anonymous said...

Reading the blogs about the ranch is amazing. I can't believe that things that happened almost 10 years ago are being brought up. That narrows it down to who's blogging. Interesting that those things were brought up but you guys failed to mention Koerner. He is more of Lisa's flunky than D ever has been...or will be. Lisa and Koerner leave him in the dark and run over him. Doesn't he put out his own policies as "we administrators..."? Then CO calls and D has to answer for their actions that he doesn't know about. What about Koerner's "copyrighted" program that looks very similar to Samenhow's stuff, verbal judo, alanon, etc...? You guys have also failed to mention the staff that have left as a result of his covert bullying, antagonizing and patronizing actions as well as Lisa (and D's and Lee's) backing of this spineless excuse for a human. Come on, the man hides behind the books on his desk and his posters. No where did you mention about a certain caseworker who is out most of the week usually and how her youth suffer as a result--lack of therapy is abuse. There have been so many wrongs done that they will never be righted. And I hate to burst your anti-McFadden campaign, but the majority of those "old school TYC staff" didn't turn their heads, they reported the incidents. If you follow policy, then you are covered and that is what they did. The current administration decided policy was as they interpreted it...and who could manipulate the situation in CO to their advantage.

Anonymous said...

You are right about Koerner, he is useless, and Cooke know's exactly how to control him to do her dirty work, but we can leave Lee out, she is the one who made McFadden the sick, pedophile ridden cult it is today.She allowed all of those "volunteers" in there to touch those boys, and actually got mad when we told her it wasn't in policy,I hope that they remove Lee, Didier, White, Brown, Koerner and ALL of those so called "caseworkers". The youth of Texas will be better off..hey Davis doesn't belong there either, she is another Cooke flunky.

Anonymous said...

I don't know who you all are referring to at these other facilities, but I am a recommit staff of 5 years and I returned to this agency to continue to work with some of the most aggressive and assaultive youth in the state because I believe in my ability to make a difference. However, when we bash the staff that are employed along side us, we are only knocking ourselves can creating a more hostile environment to "live" in.

I have no stake in this string about McFadden and I will repeat...I DO NOT know any of you; however, I would hate to think that there are outsiders to our agency reading these strings and forming opinions about us all based on what they are reading!

Can we stay focused on the REAL problems:
-all staff (JCO, CM's, PA's, Psychology, etc) are overworked and underpaid.
-Youth continue to assault staff causing substantial bodily injury without appropriate recourse given to the staff. (Can USA Today report on the numbers of vicious assaults perpetrated by the youth against staff? That is something that NEEDS to be reported!)
-Morale of staff is depleated as we ALL continue to work 12 hour shifts without any end in sight.
-Staff are being fired for not having GED's or high school diplomas after working for the agency diligenty for years (they were hired without them). Instead of TYC investing in these staff who have shown complete dedication to the agency, they are being booted without so much as a good bye! (How much time and effort would it have taken for Administration to provide tutoring for these staff without an education to study for and take the GED so they would meet minimum qualifications and continue to provide for their families?) These staff would surely be more dedicated to an agency that is willing to assist them in obtaining this education. There are teacher employed to give youth this opportunity (GED Prep) but no one is taking the time to invest in our employees.
-Our recruiting rates are horrible, big surprise, and we are losing two to three times the staff that are being replinished through job fairs.

While I understand the years of built-up frustrations at a seemingly indifferent administration, please do not demean one another under the guise of this blog!

Grits-THANKS for reporting everything that pertains to TYC as this is unfortunately the only way we know anything that is happening. No one in Austin takes a moment to advise us of the changing climate and how we are being affected, so THANKS GRITS for doing it for them!

To all my fellow TYC employees, let me say, "THANKS FOR THE HARD WORK YOU CONINUE TO DO!!" If they won't say it, I sure will!

Anonymous said...

Going back to the wise guy (or gal I should say) who claims that Lucio at York is "holding people accountable". PLEASE! Don't think having relations with a JCO staff member is called "holding people accountable". That's just outright dirty. By no means is this Lucio clean. I wonder if Lashbrook knew she was fired from her prior job. Escorted out of the building, if I can remember correctly. So don't tell me this lady runs the house by the book. Come on!! Did Lashbrook overlook this one too!

Anonymous said...

I have to agree with 5/17/2007 11:36 PM ......the halfway house in Corpus Christi sure does have a high turnover. Sounds like Kimbrough needs to get rid of the root of the problem (Lucio) in order to get the place in order. Maybe that Asst. from Crockett can take over her position and make positive changes? If not her, then surely someone else other than Lucio. The turnover will continue to exist as long as she is there because the hired staff will pick up on her crooked ways and bail.

Anonymous said...

Recommitted staff, I am glad you are back. I really agree with your blog, that we need to remain focused on making positive changes for the youth and staff. We are dealing with difficult youth and it is a difficult job.
Keep up the good work. And Grits, thanks for your continued blogs. I must say you hit the nail on the head when you commented on that all staff who abuse youth or know about wrong doing should not be working. But someone over a fed ex package, makes one wonder. But the truth will come out for everyone who has been unjustly accused and the guilty ones will be finally held accountable.

Anonymous said...

11:36 I heard Lucio came from a Contract Care facility? I wonder who else interviewed Lucio? Could this be a pattern? There was another lady that left that was hired at the same time she was that came from the same contract facility?

Anonymous said...

I see a few allegations being passed around such as "She was advised that a male staff member became violent with a female staff member at McFadden", "I can personally say that I know for a fact that Lisa Cooke has restricted access to the hot-line number's and changed youth and staff statements, i know because she fired me for saying something about it to the A.G.'s office!", "She was caught shredding altered grievance reports from Faith Campbell and orders to do it from Lashbrook.", " She allowed all of those "volunteers" in there to touch those boys, and actually got mad when we told her it wasn't in policy".


That sounds like a lot of proof. I have yet to see an arrest on these people. And If you knew a crime was being committed and didn't report it (i.e. altering a legal document, sexual misconduct with a minor, and failure to report abuse of a minor.)to at the very least LOCAL Law enforcement, then what does that say about you? You sit back and claim how "good" and wonderful employees you are, when you are just as much to blame as these ALLEGED criminals. Well after a little research this what found.

Texas Penal Code
§ 12.21. CLASS A MISDEMEANOR. . . .shall be punished by:
(1) a fine not to exceed $4,000;
(2) confinement in jail for a term not to exceed one year; or
(3) both such fine and confinement.

Punishment and Sentencing
Promotion of Prostitution, Abuse of Corpse and FAILURE TO REPORT A FELONY are examples of this class of misdemeanor.

Doesn't that make you feel so righteous now, knowing that standing back and doing nothing while these "crimes" were being committed you never walked to the telephone and called the police? I'm no lawyer, but that sounds to me like you were a party to these crimes by your own inaction. Let that give you some warm fuzzy feelings while you slam these others. If you had proof, they would be in jail, or you should be for not doing anything about it.

Anonymous said...

When you are constantly filling in for someone that "can't" come to work because _______ (fill in the blank), then THEY ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THE PROBLEM--overworked/understaffed, the inability to do your work because you are doing theirs, or even the busy work on top of busy work imposed by an administrators self imposed policies--and it does merit a blog.

Bring back the staff (admin, JCO's and caseworkers) that knew how to run the Ranch from top to bottom and weren't afraid to do it or how they looked in CO because they followed policy! Those were the ones that were firm, fair and consistent. Those were the ones that not only had the respect of their coworkers, but the respect of the youth as well. WHY? Because they were committed. Those were the ones who made McFadden number 1 in TYC and one of the best treatment facilities in Texas...if not the nation.

Anonymous said...

11:03, I don't remember anybody saying anything about "shredding" anything at McFadden...WOW! Feeling guilty? It would seem to me that whomever this is...YOU have more information, YOU should be reporting..I personally HAVE called the authority on these people, and I guess it had some truth to it, huh? LOTS of people missing around McFadden these days...Number 1 in texas? PLEASE! Number 1 what? Number one place to be sexually abused is more like it!Maybe instead of being on here Mr. Didier, YOU need to be working and taking care of the youth you are supposed to be monitoring! If you did your job better maybe two kids wouldn't have escaped a few days ago!! Did you find them yet?? Get your ass off the computer and TAKE CARE OF TYC YOUTH!

Anonymous said...

It looks like somebody from mcfadden needs to place blame and make themselves feel better.

Anonymous said...

quoting policy? Is Cooke bored today or what?LOL

Anonymous said...

overworked? understaffed? Sorry white and lee,maybe you will have to move off the desk today and do something.I guess staff don't want to work in a place that treats people like shit and fires them for nothing.Now,you and white leave and maybe we all might come back!

Anonymous said...

don't let those with their heads so far up cookes ass get to any of you.have faith that god will do whats right, he has so far by removing her after she removed one of the best employees the ranch has ever had.be strong ms.g, you are on the right side and may god bless you, we are behind you.

Anonymous said...

AMEN to that!! Behind you 150% sister G! Let them ask us what's going on around here, we will tell them!I am starting to feel a little 'sick' i might have to take some leave. They can't get us all if we stand united my people! GOOD will win over evil..Cooke is gone, got a couple more to go and all will be right with the world!

Anonymous said...

hey 11:03, you might have seen an arrest if Cooke didn't drag those kids in her office and blackmail them to change their statements! You can't do stuff like that. thats against the law. now,cooke flunky, shouldn't you be doing something else? abuse of agency time and computer might cause some issues at CO, don't you think? Get to work!! Find those two kids for starters, oop's, or are you "hiding the fact they escaped" Mcfadden is number 1 remember!LOL

Anonymous said...

you Mcfadden people sound crazy, no wonder the kids run away.

Anonymous said...

I agree 4:32! Calling staff mama, animals, hugging, firing people for calling them out on abuse. Why is that place still open? If nothing else, it sounds like the place is a HUGE mess of policy violations, and I am no lawyer either, but firing somebody for an abuse claim, thats retaliation and anybody who has ANY part in that, they better be very careful,they can be held PERSONALLY liable for that stuff

Anonymous said...

This isn't Mr D--does my spelling have an accent? Or White or Lee or Brown...or any other of the cop outs that took FMLA or claiming they are waiting for CO to give them a date to come back to work. You want to make a statement, go to work and do the right thing. Don't punish your coworkers by causing them to work 12 hour shifts while you sit on your butt, on the computer all day. Really. Signing in as anonymous? People, it doesn't take much to figure out who you are. As far as my butt being on the computer and not working, you obviously do not know who this is or you wouldn't have made such an idiotic comment. You are in your thinking error of jumping to conclusions.

The people I'm talking about are long gone--Para, Adcock, Canary, McGinnis, Collier, Watkins and Kreager to name a few. These people knew the program. They were respected because of the way they treated people. What we've got at the ranch now doesn't know the meaning of respect, professionalism...just look at the blogs. You can get more said and done without all the crap, finger pointing and accusations. If you're mad at Lisa, then victimize her, don't drag everybody else in with her. All or nothing attitude is not going to get your job back and it certainly isn't going to get your other coworkers on your plate.

Anonymous said...

shut up Hetrick and get your ass back on your hall

Anonymous said...

better yet, go threaten a female, you like to do that shit.Dude

Gritsforbreakfast said...

Please guys, calm down. That stuff's uncalled for, and the 6:05 comment, just as an example to the crowd, is probably libelous. Stop that, please.

I REALLY don't want to moderate comments - they come too fast and furious on these strings - so I'm asking y'all to stop with the abusive rhetoric. Anonymity can lead to a sense of license that is inappropriate when discussing these important topics - please try to conduct yourself SOMEWHAT less childishly than the kids you're in charge of. Thanks

Anonymous said...

FMLA, cop out? Man, you are one to talk! Didn't you just come back from doing that? Getting advice on the right thing to do from somebody like you is a frickin joke!We are ALL out for one reason, somebody who should NOT have been removed was. You want me to come back so you can take your sweet ass time off, well forget about it! Its MY time, who the hell are you?

Anonymous said...

You know, I hope that the truth does come out, but until then, I agree with Grits, calm down, don't sink to their level. I, like you all, am in a bad situation. However, our boss is being accused of being a tyrant when she is not. That is why no one has left, no one goes out on sick leave, no overtime, etc. Grits, why don't you do some investigating on that situation, that the only thing they can come up with is a stamp or two? What about the rest of us that do not have our leader there but want her to be? However, we have a person or two who have been trying to sabotage her, in high positions, they know who they are and I hope the truth prevails. If people are doing things wrong, report them, it is your duty, remember, that is what you would of wanted if it was yourself, your kid, or anyone you know kid.

Anonymous said...

somebody gets fired for doing the right thing, what should we do? Come to work and "pretend" we all didn't know its because the woman had the guts to stand up against some pretty sick people.In my opinion, the only professional is the one who stands by their fellow co-worker who gets done wrong by administration, its certainly not going in and taking as much OT as you can get. In unions, they have a word for that, its called being a "scab" Somebody was done dirty, if you can stand by and be okay with that, it shows how much of a man you are. If the truth be known, if we would have handled our business from the beginning, we wouldn't have had to let a woman do it for us. I will tell you something, when that woman comes back in a power position, and i believe she will...watch out. She isn't going to let anybody do nothing wrong!You are going to see, this ain't done yet....and you picked the side you will be on at the end.

Anonymous said...

I don't want to fight. Right is right. Wrong is wrong. Abusing your power against staff and youth is wrong. Kids should be allowed to call hotlines and report grievances without fear. Its their rights.NONE of us are allowed to tell them they can't exercise their rights.Its in policy now, if you disagree with something, you have the right to question it and not be treated unfairly.

Anonymous said...

to the employee whining about co-workers not doing their fair share because they are on leave.I am sure the same could be said about you. You know, you can always say "NO" to working the extra hours, but that would mean that you wouldn't be as much of an ass-kisser then, so that won't work. Here i sit on my computer, enjoying my time off..

Anonymous said...

To Ms. G, If you read this, just know, we are here for you, we care that you were done dirty.God will watch out for you and make sure you are protected. You are so strong, I am proud to know you.

Anonymous said...

yep, just watch the papers in the next few days, i heard Ms.G has friends in high places, she is getting stuff done!!!

Anonymous said...

I don't need to watch out, I know that I am not an ass kisser, etc. No one here is, she won't tolerate it and does not ask for it. We do our jobs, if I screw up, she tells me, than we move on. Stand by that staff member that has been done wrong, I totally agree. If she is taking the fall for something she should not be, she needs to get a good lawyer and you all need to be willing to testify in her behave. But the ones who use FMLA to get back, that is just hurting each other, not helping. You may want to use it to get even, but the only ones who suffer are the ones working who believe in the same things you do. This is not what FMLA is about. While everyone spends this time thinking of not going to work to get back, you are hurting the kids also. Why do you do this job, we all know it is not for the big paycheck, but we do it because we want to help kids. If you do not believe in that anymore, than maybe you needs to re-evaluate your career choice. I know I have kids, and if the teacher from the school did not like his job and was as angry as some of you here, I would not want you teaching my child. Don't get me wrong, I can understand your anger, but try to put it aside and do what you are there for.

Anonymous said...

I'm not Hetrick or any one else waiting for my sweet ass to take time off when you or whoever comes back or anyone like that. Who the hell am I? I'm the one that got asked to stay over to cover for so and so being out and didn't bitch; I'm the one who was told "you're alright, I like you"...I'm your buddy at the ranch but here I'm an ass kisser or whatever your anger feels the need to say. These blogs are perfect examples of why the ranch is where it is today in addition to what administration has done or lack thereof. Others have reported the wrong doings and they were targeted too--way before you came to the ranch. They didn't use slander or liebel to make their point. Administrations across the agency are in same boat, but it's what the staff do TOGETHER that makes the facility run. Slander, liebel, calling in...none of those promotes team work, it demolishes it. By using slanderous remarks and liebel you are ultimately abusing the youth through helping deteriorate the morale of staff. You may get people fired, and you may get the ranch closed...and you may make an impact on people, including yourself, that you didn't ask for.

Anonymous said...

I find it amusing, that all you Roanoke employees; current, suspended, fired or on FMLA, are afraid to use your real names.

It's easy to point fingers, make accusations and play the poor, wounded victim, when you hide behind the anonymous option. It makes people like myself, who doesn't know any of the circumstances behind any of this, totally dismiss what you have to say.

If you act like this at work, it's no wonder you have conflict with your co-workers and are in the situations you're in (fired, suspended etc). I've seen more maturity on an elementary school playground. You shoud be ashamed of yourselves.

Anonymous said...

Okay Lee, whatever you say. You are right.We should have just shut our mouths and let you all use the ranch for your own purposes. How dare we speak up and say anything. Don't worry about anybody having a good lawyer.Worry about how much you are willing to give up to stand up for cooke and hobson.

Anonymous said...

This whole thing is ridiculous, the people on here RIGHT NOW are the ones supposed to be watching TYC youth at McFadden,who is childish? If i can't be at work because i am ill, at least i am home ONLINE, you are abusing TYC computers AT MCFADDEN, I think maybe i should call that fraud abuse hotline and ask them to check McFadden's computers to make sure staff isn't online when they should be watching the kids! Maybe thats why 2 escaped about this time on Tuesday, huh? Staff fighting online INSTEAD of watching the youth...

Anonymous said...

ya all need to stop, its time for the kids to run again, get off the computer and go watch the doors, if you are so worried about the kids that is. Oh, and just some information for you, that fraud and abuse of agency property hotline, they were REAL interested in seeing if anybody from Mcfadden was logging in during company time, so if i were you all, i would play online at home and not sit online all day like you normally do and actually do your jobs.

Anonymous said...

Thanks 8:15, you took the words right out my mouth. These are the people complaining how "overworked" they are??LOL
I would imagine it is hard work to ignore 48 kids while you fight with staff who are at home. Now who is abusing their time again? Whats that number to that hotline to report abuse of state property? Anybody know? I want to call too! I wouldn't want anybody to say i didn't do anything about this. If they can suspend somebody for fed-ex, this should get some people fired.

Anonymous said...

1-866-477-8354!! They said they can check all TYC computers for history!

Anonymous said...

LOL! I think you scared them off.Well, I am not shocked, they run away and hide when they might get caught doing something wrong.If i know them well, I would think they are sitting there making up a story to make sure they all don't get caught up. Thats how it normally happens, right Lee?

Anonymous said...

All of u that are pro- Mc Fadden make me SICK, all this time you stood by and watch this crap unfold are cowards! everyone has been for self the entire time, and now people or co-workers want to cry and *itch about how people need to come to work because this is hurting them, now the joke is on you. If this was really about a team effort, this BS wouldn't have went this far. Ms. G and a few others are the only ones out 37 or more employees that stood up for what is right. so all of you from Mc Fadden on this line is hurting or woking 12hrs remember its karma baby!

Anonymous said...

Hey all of you that are scared YOU SHOULD BE!, We know what you did last summer!, LOL, First it was Cooke and next it will be Didier and then Lee, I can't wait. And to all of you who was kissing Ms. Cooke Ass, began to cry and ask for forgiveness. Better yet tell the AG and the investigators the truth. Save your souls. LOL

Anonymous said...

what souls? Didn't they all sell their souls to Ms. Cooke, oop's i meant the devil...oh well, same thing

Anonymous said...

Hey all of Mc Fadden maggots I Got A Tip For you! Start looking for another job because Mc Fadden is going to be Shut The *uck down. This is not a test. I repeat this is not a test.

Anonymous said...

All TYC employees need to start watching legislation. A bill movement alert was sent out saying that HB 2884 and been recommended for the Senate local and uncontested calendar. This one is scary that CHuy's 103 which voted unanimous in both side of the lege. If this one does the same, I don't know if the gov has to sign or not. If not, we're sunk. If the gov has to sign it, then everyone needs to find out who to write and start writing NOW. All facilities with more than 100 beds will be turned over to TDCJ which is basically all the facilities.TDCJ can do what they want with them and everyone who wants to keep their job has to reapply..If you don't believe me, go read the text of the whole thing.

Anonymous said...

10:47 I believe Lucio did come from a contract care facility. I think you may be talking about a female therapist she brought in to provide counseling for the youth at York who was a buddy of hers (who was also fired from that contract care facility).
All I know is Lucio cannot be trusted. She is bad news for TYC and investigators need to look into her history. They are bound to find alot of disturbing information. This is another one of those cases where Lashbrook covered up for her Supt. to save her reputation. Not a good situation.

Anonymous said...

She used to work for Lutheran services.

Anonymous said...

Who Lucio or the therapist?

Anonymous said...

Lucio

Anonymous said...

Lucio was fired from Bokencamp and then hired by Lashbrook at TYC

Anonymous said...

Wow- and you guys/galls are supposed to be the role models for rehabilitation for juveniles currently in the system.I have to say that i am really impressed with you all. The quality of lower level staff (both current and former) is amazing. You all sound so educated, and even thru all your complaints I can tell that you must have lots of education, perhaps a degree or two. With all this it means that you would more than qualify to become supers... and you must have tons of EVIDENCE to back up your allegations, right???

The problem with you FMLA complainers is that you got busted abusing the system. If you truly knew the system and had a legimate claim, legally you could not have been terminated. With all your education and extensive knowledge of the current TX legal system you should know this.

Furthermore, your comments, are libel, but again with your extensive knowledge of constiutional law and the limits of libel with regards to truth and intent to intentially damage reputation this shouldn't be a problem, when the suits are served, right?

Remember thanks to legislation as a result of 911, nothing is ANONYMOUS anymore. But wait you already knew that.

Anonymous said...

Someone sure is on the defensive in Corpus Christi. And, sounds like this person may be on pins and needles these days wondering when their time will come when they are jobless. Only time will tell.....

Anonymous said...

Is that the best you can do? And by the way I am independently wealthy and don't have to work. :) I spend my time, laughing at these hilarious blogs. Oh, wait, I am parent it's a HUGE job, and it keeps me very busy, because I sure wouldn't want them to end up where you guys/gals work. happy evening to ya!

Anonymous said...

I like that, but for some odd reason I don't believe it one bit. Have a great evening!

Anonymous said...

All of this talk about being anonymous, I don't care if anybody know's who I am. I am the person that stood up for what was right. I am the person that broke up the sick little clique that McFadden Ranch had going. I am the person that made sure people in the AG's office and the rangers listened to the kids and staff. I am the person that wouldn't stop talking about the bad things happening there. I am the person that made sure people who didn't belong there were removed, and I am not finished yet. Do I consider myself a hero in this mess? NO. I am just a mom who couldn't imagine leaving my own child in that atmosphere!! I did what i needed to do, it might not have been the most popular decision or even the most thought out. I paid for my decision to do what i needed to do with my job. Do I regret it? Would I do it all over again? DAMN RIGHT I WOULD! What kind of human being does it make ME to stand by and watch people victimize children? I could never do that. If thats what is expected of me by TYC, then they can have their shitty job and I will see them in court. As far as my supervisors, you know who you are...that made my life a living hell until last week. Read chapter 554 of the Texas Government code and decide what you want to give up to the state of Texas for your need for vengence against me, because the state wants $15,000 from EACH person in a supervisory position over ME! Thats everybody at the Ranch that was on the wrong side of this!Now is the day of reckoning people...stand up for whats right or go down with the people who are wrong, and I know that you know who that is..it was not just a coincidence that 1 day after she got rid of me, THEY got rid of her...THEY are watching you people.Stop trying to hide things, your days of running TYC by YOUR policies are over. There's a new sheriff in town folks...

Anonymous said...

Couldn't have said it better Ms.G!!!YOU need to be our leader at the Ranch because YOU stand up for whats right!! You and Mr.W, you two would make an excellent team, kids and staff love you and RESPECT you! Stay Strong!!

Anonymous said...

Through slanderous remarks, libel and name calling you do nothing but debase yourself and contribute to an already debauched system.

Anonymous said...

tycdalight, or hetrick i should say,don't be hating on people because you chose the wrong side..dude. You can always bitch about the way the treat you but you always end up their lapdog in the end, its just who you are.YOU wish you had the balls to stand up to people.

Anonymous said...

don't waste your time, he will always be just another McFadden flunky.Its all he can ever be.

Anonymous said...

yep!The question is who's he running to now that Cooke's gone, he can't hide behind her anymore and go running into the office to write up statements on people!LOL

Anonymous said...

ain't no real men at McFadden these days...ya know?LOL

Anonymous said...

I just learned about this blog and here's my 5 cents worth.

If McFadden is as bad as some of their employees make it out to be, it should be closed. Back in the 90's I had to visit there and met a Caseworker, now a PA, that had an attitude. If this guy is still there, I can imagine how dangerous he has gotten. He was not well respected then and from what I've read, he has not gained any respect throughout his tenure there.

If you didn't have the guts to report the administration before this mess broke, then quit complaining. Don't trash them because of your personal grudges. What goes around comes around. If you don't give people things to talk about, then they have nothing on you. If you party with them, then it's your fault because you give them something to talk about.

Those who wronged the agency will get what is due to them. Just be patient, Rome didn't fall in one day. Sometimes when you are cleaning house, the dust bunnies hide here and there, but eventually they will be sucked up by the vacuum cleaner and disposed of.

Anonymous said...

I can see your point 11:42, but what you need to realize that most of the people did report it. What happen is that the employee grievance system just went to the supt's boss, who, if they went and investigated all of the grievances she has looked at on McFadden, now have been confirmed. It does not matter how many people stated, witnessed, etc. The employee grievance system is a joke. It is now with HR, it should be with an independent group just like the allege mistreatment system. Not until then can we have a fair system.

Anonymous said...

Let me clarify my last blog, they need to look at how many were confirmed, then they can see how corrupt the system is. Look at the grievances at Ayres House, York House? That is just a few to look at. Look at the turnover rate of staff at both those facilities, or any of the halfway houses.

Anonymous said...

1:50 p.m., I see your point too. I don't think anyone working with TYC will argue the fact the employee grievance system is a farce. If anyone has ever written one, they know it's a joke. The buck stopped at the superindent's desk and that was the end of it. Unless an employee appealed it, makes me wonder what the stats on appeals are and the outcome of those. Anyway, I agree it needs to given to someone who does not report directly to TYC. I bet they will fight it too. I just don't feel that we should be trashing our co-workers based on personal grudges. You have to admit it got ughly. The effort needs to be directed at coming up with solutions that are viable to the problems at hand and those that have arisen from this whole entire mess. There is safety in numbers! Present your solutions to the people that are trying to revamp TYC and see what happens. If they fall on deaf ears, then we will know where we stand. Then we can go from there.

Anonymous said...

I think what really gets to me is the people on here that no matter what, stand by McFadden's administration. Can you people REALLY be that naive? Do you think for one second that she isn't going to give you up if it means her ass being thrown in jail? This is life people, she owes you nothing and between you and her..its going to be you going down. I wish i could just shake you all and tell you all this "team work" that "your" superintendent is preaching is just bull...she can and WILL throw you right under that bus, don't be stupid people, save yourselves by speaking up, this is your LAST chance to get out of this without it destroying your lives, let the people that made the big bucks off of this fight it out in court, you all don't get paid enough to deal with this crap.SAVE YOURSELVES!She is already talking...

Anonymous said...

7:39, thank you. I heard she was selling out people who covered up for her, I am glad i stayed out of this

Anonymous said...

My problem is with Kimbrough and Owens, how can they tell all these people with knowledge of crimes to come forward and then NOT protect them when they do!! We can blame everybody, but lets place blame on people that can do something about this!

Anonymous said...

Anyone applying for any of Superintendent positions at the Institutions or Ayres House?

Anonymous said...

I am going to apply for Executive Director. Do you think they will overlook the fact that I have 46 felony DWI's and one misdemeanor for having an illegal chicken coop in downtown Austin? I am good buds with Jay Kimbrough so maybe he will cut me some slack.

Anonymous said...

Well, you have had 46 felony DUI, okay, now, have you ever used a stamp? If so, don't bother applying.

Anonymous said...

I just have been through being asked questions about my boss, and it was like I was on trial. Others went in and were asked a couple of questions, and out. I think that the way things are being done, we all should be scared for our jobs, I am seeing good people leaving that should not be.

Anonymous said...

Who's your boss?

Anonymous said...

Hey 11:54....If your boss worked at Mcfadden Ranch, its no mistake, she deserved to go, but she forgot to take some of you with her when she was, uh..."REMOVED" Afraid for your job? The good ones leaving? Thats a joke...

Anonymous said...

I heard today in a meeting that she is back at Mcfadden Ranch. Is this true? We were told that she was found not guilty.

Anonymous said...

You can only be found not guilty in a court trial.

This was an investigation and the allegations were unfounded.

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