Friday, November 02, 2007

New York Times: Texas Needs to "Raze" Youth Commission and "Start Over" - Will the Governor listen?

A New York Times staff editorial today recommended that it's time to "raze" the Texas Youth Commission and try a different approach:
Texas is reeling from the allegations of brutality, neglect and sexual abuse that have rocked its juvenile justice system. Heads have rolled and reforms signed into law this summer by Gov. Rick Perry have eased the crisis, for the moment. The only real way to remedy the situation is to raze Texas’s deeply flawed system and build a new one from the ground up.

The juvenile justice system’s Blue Ribbon Task Force has laid out a sensible and far-sighted plan for doing that. Unfortunately, it has gotten far too little support.

The panel rightly calls on Texas to replace its far-flung and understaffed archipelago of youth prisons with small, local facilities that would concentrate on rehabilitation and education. The proposed system would in many ways emulate Missouri’s juvenile justice system, which is the national model for how to deal successfully with troubled children.

The panel blames some of Texas’s high juvenile detention rate on poorly run schools. In far too many communities, children with learning, achievement or behavior problems that should be handled at school are probably being suspended or expelled, which makes them more likely to commit crimes. About 40 percent of the children sent off to detention centers appear to have learning disabilities that the schools have either failed to recognize or treat. A disproportionately high number of those are black and Hispanic.

These detention centers also have little capacity for addressing these children’s problems. The tiny communities where the prisons and detention centers are located — sometimes more than a day’s drive away from the children’s families — must surely have trouble attracting teachers, psychologists and well-trained corrections workers. Not surprisingly, about half of these young people end up back inside after being released. ...

The reorganization project will require a lot of political will. The toughest opposition will likely come from legislators who talk a good game about reform but want to keep open detention centers in their districts to preserve local jobs.

I think "razing" TYC, or at least dramatically overhauling it, is exactly what's needed, especially after the crew brought over from the adult prison system to run the agency mostly worsened TYC's already significant troubles. If the agency is to continue to exist (and I can envision arguments why it shouldn't), it needs management committed to rehabilitating juveniles and it needs to follow the advice of the experts the Governor commissioned to create a blueprint for reform. On that score, the Times editorial hits the proverbial nail on the head.

It's amazing that even from half a continent away it's obvious what TYC needs to do, but those here in Austin and the Legislature can't figure it out. It's not as though they haven't been told. And told. And told.

When is Governor Perry going to put an end to this foolishness and appoint new management at TYC, one that will run the agency in a way that won't continue to disgrace the state? The clock's ticking, Governor, the world is watching, and this crew isn't getting the job done.

See the Blue Ribbon Panel report (pdf) referenced in the Times editorial. Via JuvieNation.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hate to say it but the only thing I have ever enjoyed out of New York has been the Yankee's. Well after reading this now I have two things. It just amazes me how everyone else can see the writing on the wall except our own Governor. Maybe I should shoot an e-mail to Rudy Guilani and maybe he can talk some sense into Perry?

Anonymous said...

Someone at the NYT has clearly been paying attention. There is a surprisingly precise level of detail in this and the previous editorial the other day.

Now the major TV news networks need to do stories about it. More light means more chance for action.

BB

Anonymous said...

I hate it that the Times seems to give credit to Perry for "easing the crisis." His office contributed to the crisis and the so-called reforms have only shifted the epicenter of the coming earthquake a little. TYC never needed to be hammered the way it has. Dozens of good staff didn't need to be hurt. If the alleged abuse at West Texas actually happened, it had nothing to do with understaffing, lack of treatment, or "brutality." Session after session, our legislature undercut TYC, requiring us to do more with less. TYC staff and administrators have tried heroically to salute and carry on, and they are still being being stepped on as their reward. What does the New York Times care about Texas juvenile corrections, anyway?

Anonymous said...

Oh -- I realize that I can answer my own question. Guiliani endorsed Perry. Texas juvenile corrections is now considered a weak spot in George Bush's repertoire, so they are hoping it will also be so for Perry, in case Perry has national aspirations. Politics, again.

Anonymous said...

What do you expect from the Times when Guiliani ( Who knows how the yankees spell that one ) stated to Rick Perry that He was a great Leader LOL,, And they want ro say something about how we run anything in Texas,,,Comeon thats a Joke....Great Leader 1111

Gritsforbreakfast said...

@3:52, to be fair they've also had at least two different reporters covering TYC and Texas juvie corrections this year - Solomon Moore and Ralph Blumenthal - and they've covered other states' juvenile issues besides Texas (though you have to admit, we're particularly a mess).

I think rather than an anti-Bush, anti-Giuliani conspiracy, I'd attribute this to the likely existence of someone on the Times editorial board with a background covering these issues - Bill Bush posted another staff editorial just recently extolling the Missouri model, etc., so somebody's doing a little mini-series on juvie stuff, I'd guess, just like I did this summer on graffiti. That's my hunch, anyway, fwiw. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Anyway, disregarding the messenger, what do you think of the proposal: Should TYC be "razed," and if you were going to "start over," what would that look like, starting from where we are now?

Anonymous said...

TYC has many people who could rebuild the system. Unfortunately they are all running and hiding from da pope.

TYC needs to be rebuilt, but the people who are charged with rebuilding it are only qualified to destroy things.

It is time to get hold of this mess and identify that the lege and the gov were fully aware of the scandals, but were afraid to move on it because it was an election year.

Let's just start over with a new constitution.

Anonymous said...

Starting over is probably the only way things are going to change for the better. Instead of a "sick out", I would encourage everyone with a computer to start emailing their Congressmen and Senators (U.S., that is!) and the Department of Justice and ask for their intervention into this fiasco. If you wait for Goodhair, you'll be waiting a long, long time.

Anonymous said...

Starting over is going to take some money........

New management is needed because everyone has lost confidence in the current leadership. The top 12-15 positions need to be replaced.

New management needs to hire competent staff, pay them a decent salary and provide intensive trainng at the CO level as quickly as possible.

Next the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon panel need to be implemented.

Clearly it will be a challenge to keep the current "boat" above water during a change and it will be costly.

There is no other way at this point.

Anonymous said...

Since TYC did away with me, I think they ought to be razed!

Anonymous said...

I agree wholeheartedly with 3:47. TYC was not nearly as bad as our esteemed legislators made it out to be. It was definitely better than it is now. Now, at all levels, staff don't know what the hell to do. We don't know if we should do anything the way we used to or if we should be doing it differently (since nothing seems to have been done right before). Everyone is soooo stressed!

Anonymous said...

No, I do not think TYC should be razed. It needs rehab at the central office, though. I worked inside for a long time, and had experience at only one facility, so maybe I'm not objective OR knowlegeable, but it seems to me that TYC needs three things. It needs a performance-based treatment program similar to the one Pope scrapped, smaller facilities, and staffing no higher than 8:1. I believe that if people who want to work with youth are assured of a safe environment where they are respected by their hierarchy, they will come to work and do a good job whether they are at the top of the pay scale or not. They will speak up when they see mistreatment and unprofessionalism, and they will provide supervision that can preclude youth-on-youth violence. TYC has many good people like this, but they are being squeezed daily because of knee-jerkers and opportunists with agendas of their own. Maybe a cigar is sometimes a cigar, but I am very cynical in this case.

Anonymous said...

Has everyone gone to vote yet? Don't forget proposed amendment #4 - this one is for the bond sales for construction of new TYC facilities. Mainstream media is pushing its approval - at the least the Chronicle is. Whether or not your for it or against it, there are several other very important amendments that also require our vote.

We should all vote every time we are given the opportunity. This is how our voices are heard.

If you don't think every vote counts, just ask the two candidates running for County Judge in Reeves County last year! Or better yet, Presidential candidate Al Gore:)

Anonymous said...

The blue ribbon panel was asked how to fix the present TYC program, and what they basically came up with is that we need a new one. How many of those college professors would accept a paper from a student that didn't address the assignment. Maybe we need a new program, but why hasn't someone genuinely tried to fix the one we have. The lege gave us duct tape and bailing wire and said it was fixed. Perry gave us a bunch chimpanzees with hammers to make sure it gets broke completely so Texas tax-payers are force to get a new program. Even if we get a new one, are we going to buy it from this same bunch? Time for a tax revolt.

Anonymous said...

TYC mirrors TDCJ now

The inmates are running the facilities.

Anonymous said...

11:07 You are on the money. Im sure the Blue Ribbon folks called the Times themselves to get this story run. Its all about money. They want to write and study the entire problem...Notice how the report went into the education system and healthcare systems. How they treat/handle kids before they even get to TYC. Sounds like they are not interested in fixing TYC. We all know what the answers are in an ideal environment whomever is at the head. The problem is it needs to start at the legislature. Make a decision to provide funding for mental health needs of kids before they reach TYC. Most of the kids there would not be in the system. How about make the education system teach and provide more family involvement in the individual educational advancement of the kid. These are issues that would vastly reduce the numbers in TYC and the probation area.

But dont slam TYC for it. Advocates get off your asses and look at the real deal. Starts in the classroom and at home. BEFORE the kids enter the system. That is where blude ribbion was/is heading.

They now just want to get some national attention cause they travel the country and get no respect for being involved in the reform effort. AND THEY NEVER WILL. TRY REAL HARD PPL......GO TO WASHINGSTON AND NEW YORK. TRY TO FORCE MY HAND. Yes I do mean MY. YOU WILL NOT BE PART OF THIS PROCESS.

Anonymous said...

6:05 reminds me of one of my recurring complaints. TYC gets all the blame for failures in juvenile justice. Every new commit in TYC's back door represents a failure of the kid's parents, family, extended family, neighborhood, church, community, school, city, and county. But when they enter TYC, suddenly some magic should be worked. I realize the buck has to stop somewhere, but (at least from where I have been sitting) none of the fingers are pointing at those upstream who have failed. If more money can effect a cure, more needs to go to the counties and there should be more accountability there. BUT, counties are filled with constituents. It's easier for legislators to try to hold a state entity accountable than to turn back and ask the residents of their own districts to examine the way they care for their own children. In a more perfect world, juvenile corrections at the state level should never be necessary.

Anonymous said...

Amen!

Anonymous said...

"Hell NO" the Governor will not listen, even though this debacle will surely effect any further political aspirations.

Anonymous said...

So, what, just because all of the problems are bigger than TYC and start before TYC, then TYC should just get a pass? Obviously there are other social problems that underlie the problems in TYC. Should we wait until poverty, racism, and every other social ill is fixed before we demand fair
treatment for incarcerated youth?

Obviously, almost all of these social ills would be solved if there were more money and better leadership. The Blue Ribbon leadership acknowledged the other problems with TX schools and healthcare systems exactly because they agree with the point that the problems are larger than TYC.

If you really expected some group of 20-odd academics and experts to come up with the golden key to TYC's problems, then you must still be looking for Santa Claus at Christmas. Wake up and get to work.

6:05, who exactly are YOU that the Blue Ribbon folks should worry about not forcing YOUR hand? Dimitria, is that you??

Those who think advocates need to "get off their asses" should consider coming over to the side of non-profit advocacy. You think wages are low in TYC? You bemoan your lack of job stability? Come on over to the non-profit sector! You can work for the same salary, with fewer benefits and no state retirement. Oh, and did I mention that your job will only last as long as the grant money lasts? That's one year if you're lucky.

Anonymous said...

Hey 9:45 a.m., why not just come on over to our hell?

Anonymous said...

Razing is not the answer. Fixing will be possible only with a huge emergency budget and lots of staff hired to work in the dorms with the kids to keep the overwhelming odds down. More staff watching just means more eyes to keep any abuse or neglect at bay. More staff means that some staff could actually take turns and leave the dorm and take a break or have a meal. More staff means more available to take kids to off campus activities such as community services activities, church or a earned privilege such as attending a local event. We need more dorm staff period. More paid at regular rates would stop the overtime problem. More dorm staff could take vacations and not feel like their job was in jeopardy to go to the dentist for an emergency problem.
The way things are going, you can bet that around Christmas, the national guard will be working the facilities because it will be in crisis mode for JCO staff.

Anonymous said...

One of the first things that needs to be fixed is racist nature and attitude of the current administration.

Anonymous said...

2:59, you hit the nail on the head.