The Statesman's Mike Ward has a couple of budget updates that will interest Grits readers:
Both these are half-a-loaf solutions. Prison officials last year said they needed a 20% pay hike to solve their understaffing crisis, so one supposes this amount won't do much to fix that problem in the near term. This the Legislature telling the prison system it doesn't care if they have too many prisoners and not enough guards. "Tough it," is the implied retort.
Even so, emphasizing how costly the bloated prison system has become, even this much more modest raise will cost taxpayers an additional $120+ million; actually fixing the problem would have cost around $ 1 billion over the biennium. However failing to address understaffing doesn't make the problem go away; in fact, quite the contrary.
On the juvie side, the proposed conference committee budget would keep open TYC's Victory Field and Pyote facilities for one more year before closing them, a move which satisfied neither those who wanted the facilities closed before now nor those who would keep them open indefinitely. The idea of fixing the facilities up to keep them going was shot down. “We should not use kids as economic stimulus … which is what we’re doing here,” said Sen. John Whitmire. “I don’t know why you’d fix up something that there’s not going to be any demand for.”
Also on the juvie side, it looks like the juvenile firearm bill is going to pass. It is going to conference committee to work out the disagreements over the amendments added by Turner.
ReplyDeleteYou always hate to hear about closings because of job losses and such but it is time to close Victory Field. that place s falling in on itsself it should ave been condemned and closed years ago.
ReplyDeletewhat juvie firearms bill I have not been following that one
SB 1237 - It allows certain juvenile officers to carry a firearm while on duty. It passed the Senate and the House, however, due to some of the amendments added by Turner, it is going to conference committee.
ReplyDeleteThe debate on the floor was heated and rather insulting to juvenile probation officers. McClendon and Turner really showed their ignorance regarding what many officers encounter while in the field.
The guard pay was not the only victim of a tightfisted legislative session. At the beginning of the session, there was a proposal for $50 million for recruitment and retention for probation officers and direct care staff (counselors and resident monitors at residential facilities). That was cut to $25 million, then it went down to $18 million when it hit the conference committee. The final amount was $13.1 million (or about a 3.5% raise). At the same time, a food bank program for probationers and parolees in Harris County got $4 million, which is more than the operating budget of 115 of the 122 adult probation departments in the state.
ReplyDeleteWhitmire is a complete hypocrit. He wants the money and jobs to go to his projects. It's all about his ego, if you ask me. West Texas State School has served the state for just as long as Whitmire has. If it's time to close that institution, then it's time to close down Whitmire.
ReplyDeleteCertainly, West Texas and Vernon should absolutely closed. Neigher facility has been administered with integrity nor have the youth received respectful/decent treatment as documented in numerous manners.
ReplyDelete3.5% is not the 20% the TDCJ guards wanted. (Some) COs who are not paid enough make cash by other means - means that we have already seen this year and last.
ReplyDeleteIf they dont get paid enough, everyone suffers.
Just speaking as sme one wo was frequently at parole offices while with TYC I really thnk its stupid not to allow carrying of firearms. those gus are out there with nothing. I dont know if it has changed but when I was with TYC hey didnt even have pepperspray.
ReplyDeleteIn the matter of closings they are long over due. not even from the mismanagement standpoint but anyone who has been to those facilities, especially Vernon knows how run down they are. I just wish some people in Austin would quit playing politics a few minuites and use some common sense.
I only joined this post because i cant understand why is there even still dialog on the subject of tyc or victory field there is no possibility of reform, this incredibly corrupt system has out staid its usefulness especially when you have staff who are criminals themselves trying to correct other criminals with all of the nepotism favoritism and everyone trying to have sex with everyone it seems as if the facilities of tyc can be more compared to street corners of ghettos in urban America (that's my dogg) the only real answer to this problem is to abolish tyc all together and shut down those festering cesspools they call facilities turn the kids over to someone who is better equipped to meet their needs and as far as staff goes release the wild back into nature where they belong
ReplyDeleteJust stop the suffering and close both facilities immediately. This has been going on for years and will not change. Why continue corruption and incompetence? Close them now.
ReplyDelete@KTF .. If we did have so many facilities and kept locking up the citizens of the state for minor infractions, the gueards wouldn;t ahve had the jobs to begin with. I say good riddance to bad trash.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the archived video of the hearing, listening to one wonderful senator demonstrate his disdain and contempt of Pyote, & realizing he was passing along some mis-information, the need to correct him was overwhelming.
ReplyDeletePyote is a town IN TEXAS, complete with running water, electricity and indoor plumbing. The citizens of this town can read, write & comprehend. It even has its share of college graduates, at that. It may have a population of 200 but it is surrounded by communites with larger populations, east, north, west and south of it. All within 20, 30 and 45 minutes. These communites have medicial facilities, shopping, banks, grocery stores and churches, just like in the big cities!! Offended by the inferences he makes, you bet!
He feels West Texas is being kept open as an economic stimulus, at the expense of the kids. Well spit, aren't the other facilities in Giddings, Gainesville, Beaumont, Mart, Edinburg, Brownwood, etc., etc., being used as economic stimulus, at the expense of the kids, in those communities? Or are we to beleive that employees east of I-35 volunteer their time & services to TYC? West of I-35 we work for our money.
It was also stated that West Texas was not medically staffed. Wrong again, UTMB has a fully staffed clinic of 1 RN and 5/6 LVN's. Granted after June 30th, due to RIF's, they will be left with 1 RN and 2 LVN's who will care for the 48 kids in their care. They provide dental & medical services and youth are referred to specialists when the need arises.
West Texas had 3 psychologists, one with a doctorate, until the RIF's took 2 of them. We do not have a psychiatrist on staff but how many TYC faciities have one, at most 2 or 3. The rest utilize the tele-psychiatry that UTMP provides. Urban areas are not the only ones with professionals, show them the money and they will come!
Perhaps the wonderful senator should tour West Texas before basing and insulting the citizens of Pyote and surrounding communities.
I understand that JCO staff work hard. 2.5% raise for the next 2 years, I believe is the plan.
ReplyDeleteI've heard so much about treatment and counseling. Why don't psychologist get a raise? Be prepared, you are going to lose many in this position with all the new work, on-call, daily s/a kids, evaluations, groups, etc.
Now it seems that JCO staff (with GED) will make more than the psychologist with a master's degree and license. Hope TYC is ready for all the vacant psych positions.
It has been announced that Mr. Brooks is no longer the superintendent for VFCA. I am somewhat sadden by this. As a former VFCA employee, I can truly say that the problems of inconsistency, discrepancies with the security of the facility and unproffesionalism started when he became ill. If the house does not see it right now they will soon see and will regret the decision to keep this facility open. I predict that there will be very good employees who will walk away from this place due to the problems that exist internally. No one wants to work for people who feel that the only way to get compliance is to threaten employees with their jobs. What a way to go VFCA. THE FACILITY IS UNSAFE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! please pull your head out before someone really gets hurt.
ReplyDeleteVernon and West Texas need to be closed. Some employees will do anything...anything, to try and pretend how great they are and how the stains should stay open. Be real about this...they need to close. Given many chances and still blew those chances. Proven dead ends...both places; lie down...die.
ReplyDelete8:24: There are already JCO's making more than psychologists. Never mind master's level - there are some JCO's (albeit with tenure, but still...) making more than doctoral psychologists.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, no surprise: there are also already plenty of vacant psychologist positions. As for TYC getting ready for more of that to come, don't hold your breath. It's clear the state has no intention of providing adequate mental health services for these kids.
TYC has never provided real psy services to our kids. We all know it, so the leadership decided to provide the pay to those who actually help youth- JCOs. About time. Perhaps you psys can help each other, you never did much for the kids.
ReplyDeleteMost of the so called PSY services provided by the TYC Psychologists were forensic in nature. Maybe some mis-understood the nature of the Psychologists in TYC. While they did provide some guidance and supervision with treatment programs few positions were actually designed to provide therapy services. The only time this happened was with specific programs such as sex offender treatment and capital offender programs.
ReplyDeleteCaseworkers provided group treatment and when working with the state this does not require a license. The state is too cheap to pay for full time therapists.
So stop showing your ignorance and stop bashing the PSY's.
If you are confused as to what forensic psychology is then look it up. Some education might do you good 11:52.
If you were working for TYC prior to the passage of SB103, that moved TYC employees from "for cause" to "at-will" employees, I would strongly encourage you to hire an attorney, and seek a Court remedy to have your "for cause" status given back to you. Even if you are still employed with TYC, you need to take this step for added job security. Your U.S. Constitutional rights and Texas Constitutional rights were violated by the Legislature and TYC when they took your for cause status from you in June of 2007, take action immediately before it is too late!
ReplyDeleteYou cannot justify having psys in TYC; they did little and still do little. They do not deserve better pay, since they do little for the kids. You can self-justify all you want psys's, but most TYC employees, and the leadership know where you stand and what you have offered to kids - very little. Go to where the big pay is, as you always bragg about.
ReplyDeleteConcur here. Habe many times have we heard these so-called psychologists say "I could be making big bucks in the real world"? Well, why are you in TYC? Because you can't make it in the real world. Where can you hide and do nothing, except in TYC? I bet every TYC employee has heard this comment many times in their careers. Who in the new TYC even needs a psychologist?
ReplyDeleteWith no psychologist, who answers the calls at 2:00 am when a youth is suicidal and has to go to the hospital if there is an attempt? Who completes the forensic evaluations and may have to testify in court? Who completes the Static 99 and risk assessments on sex offenders? Who completes the discharge summaries for specialized treatment? Who does mental health assessments on the RED youth? Who leads the anger management, chemical dependency and psycho-educational sex groups? And the list goes on.......I guess case managers want MORE to do???? Yeah right!!
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ReplyDeleteI think the CO expert for all these issues is Cris Burton. I have read that he is the manager that is in charge of the CoNEXTions program. He is a licensed counselor and has a lot of experience. He has also been a trainer and knows about anger management, suicide assessments, suicide interventions, static 99 risk assessments, forensic evaluations, and discharge summaries. I think he has court experience as well. What he needs is more help and support to get the counseling program going at all of the TYC facilities.
Thanks Cris for your post. You should just be happy you still have a job.
ReplyDeleteMost of the so called work that I observed by psy's was tainted and half completed. I don't know any that were worth their pay checks. If they had done their work properly, many youth would have done better in TYC. Many of my coworkers agree this is a disaster and continues to be.
ReplyDeleteOh Cris, sickening self promotion. Come on LOL!
ReplyDelete2:14
ReplyDeleteMost psychologists do leave. The turnover rate in psychology departments is incredible. Why? Because the wages are extremely underpaid. Don't get me wrong, I have seen some pretty crappy TYC psychologists, but in a competitive environment they would be easily weeded out.
How did the topics of guard pay and 2 closing units turn into a TYC psychology battle?
ReplyDeleteLet's get back to the topic(s).....
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ReplyDeleteWhy don't you contribute something then? Your not the moderator.
It's 500 miles from El Paso to Brownwood today, it'll be down to 500 miles by next year and will have dropped all the way down to 500 miles by the year after. How does Whitmire read a map?
ReplyDeleteAll of you arguing about psych pay and other expenses don't get the Senate's game plan. In 2 years or so the complaining will be about the counties not paying the psychs enough.
ReplyDeleteI predict VFCA and WTSS will both get "snubbed" a lot sooner than leg reports that it will. In other words...just because we have a year to stay open does NOT mean everyone will be allowed to stay that long. As the student population decreases, the RIF'ing will be increasing. We'll be lucky if a handful of us get to keep our jobs by 2010. I suggest we all start looking NOW!!!!
ReplyDeleteAs predicted two years ago, WTSS will be Whitmire's trophy. He will use it in his next campaign. However, please keep in mind that the alleged perpetrators have never gone to trial. He can get a facility closed, but he can't get the offenders prosecuted. I wonder why. Is it because he was told about the incident and brushed it off? Not much of a campaign ticket in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteDamned right he knew about the incident and failed to act. His cronies covered it up and the DMN and Houston Cron. exposed it all. Still nothing was done about it.
ReplyDeleteThe issue is really not the pay with psychologists, or other professional staff, it is just another example of the real lack of commitment to providing best practice services to youth. Way too much smoke and mirrors going on right now regarding treatment in TYC.
ReplyDeleteCorrect, except the smoke nd mirrors has been going on since the dep. ex. dir - DH, took over TYC.
ReplyDeleteAre Dallas county JCOs going to be better paid or trained that TYC JCOs? Is Dallas going to provide more psychologists, more therapy sessions, better security without lockups, better teachers, better vocational ed. programs, and who is going to be doing the checking to make sure the students are being treated in accordance with SB 103? If Dallas county is going to be taking care the kids from their area, why isn't the legislature talking about closing Mart II? Has anyone heard of any problems with the Dallas county jail failing inspections for several years in row? Whitmire doesn't have any doubts about Dallas county's prospects for success? or just doesn't care so long as he can blame future atrocities on some other govenmental agency? Does he think that concentrating the Oakcliff gangbangers in one facility won't lead to major headaches? Oh yeah, it's still a 1,000 mile round trip from El Paso to Brownwood.
ReplyDeleteWhy not contract with New Mexico and send the El Paso kids there?
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