tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post6237582873136728114..comments2024-03-15T05:45:01.402-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: Consensus developing around juvie diversion programsGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger67125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-75242885592546820802009-05-29T21:26:44.324-05:002009-05-29T21:26:44.324-05:00Diversion is a great idea. Let's close Al Price an...Diversion is a great idea. Let's close Al Price and Evins and re-open Al Price as a 48 bed step-down, pre-release facility and give Evins to Hildalgo County as a local juvy program, since that is what they have wanted down there all along. Create diversion programs to account for the lost TYC beds. Neither unit has been able to staff up to the levels needed to meet their current bed populations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-75233776444935573932009-05-10T21:37:00.000-05:002009-05-10T21:37:00.000-05:00Those specialty programs cost lots of money, which...Those specialty programs cost lots of money, which drives the cost/day/youth way up. They send those kids to TYC - saves money for the counties and drives up the cost for TYC. Simple - keeps all the politicians happy - the locals because the cost is kept down locally, and the state pols because they can make hay in the media complaining about how much money TYC is wasting. See how it works? Politics 101Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-17912407952706489622009-05-09T07:38:00.000-05:002009-05-09T07:38:00.000-05:00Pertaining to the statement that many counties kep...Pertaining to the statement that many counties kept youth instead of sending them to TYC; how was their sex offender treatment? chemical abuse treatment? anger management treatment? capitol offender treatment? recidivicism rate?RASnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-1946365480577878462009-05-07T21:12:00.000-05:002009-05-07T21:12:00.000-05:00I think it would be great if Texas can develop som...I think it would be great if Texas can develop some truly effective diversion programs to keep kids out of TYC. Incarceration should be a true last resort. I have seen too many kids get "institutionalized" to the point that they are really afraid to leave TYC. That is just a shame. Keep as many of them out as you can, and we will deal with the rest as best we can.Old Saltynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-90764127051842626462009-05-01T20:23:00.000-05:002009-05-01T20:23:00.000-05:00I think Travis county found some other money. They...I think Travis county found some other money. They did not just use their existing budget. They are out of funds.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-72652350631146089072009-05-01T15:10:00.000-05:002009-05-01T15:10:00.000-05:00Can we use some of the Obama stimulus money on thi...Can we use some of the Obama stimulus money on this. Give every kid a loving mom and dad...pay them to be that way. Put a roof over thier heads and a few good meals a day. Teach mom to make apple pies and give dad a job making $45,000 a year, that should just about close down TYC and probation could handle the 15-20 candy bar thefts per year. <br /><br />Just watching the waves slowly wash ashore as the snow melts from the mountain tops behind me, it suddenly became clear that these kids just need a perfect world and all would be willAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-31090253996337182412009-05-01T11:29:00.000-05:002009-05-01T11:29:00.000-05:00Just a thought...If travis county really reduced t...Just a thought...If travis county really reduced thier TYC commitments and I have every reason to believe they did, they did it within thier current budgets, pat them on the back and tell them good job! If over the past two years they cut by about 85%, again pat them on the back and say carry on! Why give them millions to deal with the 15% left over because folks believe or not even in Travis county some of those kids crimes required a structured LOCKDOWN like TYC.<br /><br />Secondly, Whitmire didn't mess up TYC. Some perverts in West Texas did and the management from the Gov on down finished it off by not acting in responsable manner! <br /><br />Whitmire's only real error was praising the difficulty of reforming TYC and talking about the needs of TYC only when Pope was there, his about face on TYC after her carpet purchase and other colossal screw-ups...well not much can said after that.<br /><br />So here are some thoughts, kids almost have to break INTO TYC! Departments curently use alternate placements before useing TYC. So the big counties who have already been able to place a kid several times will now with pilot money get one more option for placement. The kid who has been placed 2 or 3 times and the consequence for continued offenses has been another alternative place is not going to know the difference between placement 4 and his new TYC reduction "Pilot Program" placement. He either ages out of the system on his next offense or goes to TYC. But for a year or two this will look like a reduction in commitments because the kid either goes to TYC later or is now in the county jail as a 17 or 18 year old. But on paper I guess this is a successful reduction....<br /><br />That was just a thought, here are a few facts! Fund these programs in Travis, Fort Bend and Dallas Counties thats great..each of those directors are good hard working people that run great departments...But there are always going to be an ever growing number of young offenders that need to be in a safe TYC setting! Most important..fund these with new money! Most departments have lost enough money, reducing the funds of departments across the state to pay for the pilots will fill up what ever is left of TYC. Medium and small departments have to have people and people dont come cheap...so reducing those budgets means fewer placements, which fills up TYC.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-39463669169063489492009-04-30T23:34:00.000-05:002009-04-30T23:34:00.000-05:00The mess the so-called reformers have made of TYC ...The mess the so-called reformers have made of TYC is disgusting! Did TYC have problems, and did it need change? Certainly. But as one of my high school teachers said a long, long time ago, "All progress involves change, but not all change is progress." Nowhere is that more true than what has happened in TYC. <br /><br />Diversion programs make sense for the majority of the youths who are adjudicated for crimes. But, what about the "crazy" and the incorrigible? Remember, only 3% of the juveniles who are adjudicated for crimes ever end up in TYC. 97% are already being successfully treated in community-based programs. Whitmire likes to posture about having a small TYC that only deals with the really tough cases. What, I may ask, does he think the 3% represents?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-1279835558355838872009-04-30T21:18:00.000-05:002009-04-30T21:18:00.000-05:00Whitmire failed TYC. He and others failed to monit...Whitmire failed TYC. He and others failed to monitor this agency appropriately. Complacency in the legislature and executive administration along with campaign promises, followed by exploding TYC population, followed by constant budget cuts is what failed TYC.<br /><br />Whitmire had his chance to micromanage TYC and he gave us the Pope. Whitmire doesn't know what the hell he is doing. Keeping TYC kids back to unproven pilot projects in the communities that have so far failed to rehabilitate them makes absolutely no sense.<br /><br />I believe in prevention but i think much more thought and development needs to go into long term detention/diversion programs.<br /><br />The question still remains, why hasn't the legislature forced the issue regarding the trial of the two men who's aberrant, disgusting, but isolated behavior kicked off this whole mess, and I am not saying they didn't do what they say they did. Just why doesn't anybody care anymore and if it takes over two years to put together a case against two men, maybe it takes more than two years to figure out how to redo juvenile justice in Texas...especially with the stupid decisions made by four knee jerking administrations (not including the knee jerking tendencies of the current, more effective, administration)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-58860877790203754142009-04-30T16:08:00.000-05:002009-04-30T16:08:00.000-05:00Thank you for that comment, Whitfan. Or, is it Wh...Thank you for that comment, Whitfan. Or, is it Whit himself?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-30325784443374775092009-04-30T15:00:00.000-05:002009-04-30T15:00:00.000-05:00Lay off Whitmire, he is trying where you TYCer' fa...Lay off Whitmire, he is trying where you TYCer' failed. Back off, lie down and take your medicine. You won it, now drink it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-15915618050506017982009-04-29T20:30:00.000-05:002009-04-29T20:30:00.000-05:00Does Whitmire want these young felons to remain in...Does Whitmire want these young felons to remain in Gangland (i.e. Houston)? Is he satisfied that he represents Gangland?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-27741006202985960952009-04-29T11:30:00.000-05:002009-04-29T11:30:00.000-05:001100: You/TYC had their shot at solving this probl...1100: You/TYC had their shot at solving this problem and they blew it. No go away and cry somewhere else.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-32648628319140695972009-04-28T23:00:00.000-05:002009-04-28T23:00:00.000-05:00Has anyone ever thought that sometimes it is bette...Has anyone ever thought that sometimes it is better to take a gang member youth out of a crime ridden community to a more remote location.<br /><br />I am sorry, but some of these kids grew up in gang ridden areas. To keep them there, or close to there after they have committed gang related crime may be doing them a disservice. I believe that an intelligent legislature would understand the intricate differences in a youth near their HEALTHY family environment and keeping a youth away from their UNHEALTHY environment.<br /><br />Hasn't anyone noticed that some parts of towns and some schools are just more gang ridden than others?<br /><br />The weak kids join gangs and commit crimes. Only the strong kids make something of themselves in many of those areas. This is especially true in Harris County!<br /><br />Good luck with your "pilot programs" Whitmire, but I think that you should have funded TYC as well, because you will need them.<br /><br />Guess we will just see more kiddos getting either shot by each other or the police.<br /><br />Great job law makers!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-6575768278489371822009-04-28T17:12:00.000-05:002009-04-28T17:12:00.000-05:00The one knock against the pilots is that the focus...The one knock against the pilots is that the focus is wrong, the goal has become keeping kids out of TYC, not rehabilitation or public safety. The states obligation is to pool its tremendous resources to create innovative programs that cannot be duplicated at a local level. The pilots appear to be a way for the state to save money, and place all responsibility at the local level. I see another significant rise in certifications(remember they are up 35% since SB 103), as this will not count against the TYC commitment caps. Additionally I can foresee children being warehoused in programs, that keep them safe but do not rehabilitate them, until they turn 17 and are released, and in all likelihood are arrested as adults. I think that the pilots should include penalties for certifications as well as children that are arrested for adult offenses. Otherwise juvenile justice takes one step closer to becoming the TDCJ hatchery.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-31215634185867959202009-04-27T22:41:00.000-05:002009-04-27T22:41:00.000-05:00This is getting really embarrassing!This is getting really embarrassing!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-31250768830230626292009-04-27T10:51:00.000-05:002009-04-27T10:51:00.000-05:00Bring those TDCJ people back. Crack down now! Get ...Bring those TDCJ people back. Crack down now! Get rid of the wimps in charge.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-59474757050448322262009-04-27T08:36:00.000-05:002009-04-27T08:36:00.000-05:00At one point one of the men appeared to taunt a st...At one point one of the men appeared to taunt a staff member with a long section of razor wire.<br /><br />A Pope (TDCJ) leftover, razorwire!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-15393114121218468302009-04-27T08:33:00.000-05:002009-04-27T08:33:00.000-05:00http://www.ktre.com/Global/story.asp?S=10253413http://www.ktre.com/Global/story.asp?S=10253413Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-17670637836867766852009-04-27T08:32:00.000-05:002009-04-27T08:32:00.000-05:00http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6394251....http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6394251.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-66722333542036938852009-04-27T08:30:00.000-05:002009-04-27T08:30:00.000-05:00Did you see the news?
Lack of leadership with dir...Did you see the news?<br /><br />Lack of leadership with direction is rearing its ugly head.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-36031553435135648922009-04-26T21:38:00.000-05:002009-04-26T21:38:00.000-05:00It is so frustrating to watch this agency. It look...It is so frustrating to watch this agency. It looks like they are making progress but then it is just more of the same. No one is making sensible decisions. The legislature, the governor, the ombudsman, the TYC administrators are all just knee jerking or bending over at the waist with their pants at their knees. So disheartening. Any news on what they are planning for the Capital and Serious Violent Offender Program?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-13333180312702326422009-04-26T21:28:00.000-05:002009-04-26T21:28:00.000-05:00Very productive comment Sheldon...Very productive comment Sheldon...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-55024279728910183062009-04-26T19:36:00.000-05:002009-04-26T19:36:00.000-05:00Yes, keep the border open!Yes, keep the border open!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-89577630645610775132009-04-26T16:03:00.000-05:002009-04-26T16:03:00.000-05:00RAS, you were making sense up until your comment a...RAS, you were making sense up until your comment about locking up the border.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com