Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation & Serious Incidents, FY 2005 - February 2010
It's hard not to notice the massive jump in the numbers from 2007 to 2008. I don't know what accounts for that but would love to hear readers' speculation on the reason(s) in the comments. Most of these incidents took place in detention or secure placement, with complaints of physical abuse involving restraints topping the list. (The report also includes county by county totals for FY 2010 through February.)
Statewide in FY 2010 so far, according to data presented to the board, 172 kids attempted suicide in juvenile detention facilities, there were 57 incidents of youth on youth violence, 46 incidents of youth sexual contact (don't know how many involved staff), and 32 attempted escapes. Six juvenile probation employees statewide were fired for cause so far in FY 2010, five more resigned as a result of pending allegations, and another 21 were suspended, reprimanded, retrained or put on probation as a result of on-the-job discipline.
As an aside, I think the practice of putting the board's packet of backup material online before each meeting is an excellent idea that should be replicated both by other agencies and by legislative committees. All that material is already being prepared electronically, it's already public information, and it would help the public more easily follow what's going on. TJPC is one of the few agencies that does this, much to their credit, but if I had my way it would be required of everybody.
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33 comments:
Go back in the archives and see when all the hotline numbers were put in the student phones at TYC..lit up the hot lines like a Christmas tree. See also if there is a statement anywhere about how many of those were actually found true.
If you look at the reported incidents most were unfounded and were actually grievances. Another smoke screen by TJPC.
TJPC ANE unit was allowed to become TCLEOSE certified after the 2007 session. The first one went there soon after and they started calling everything a serious incident. It is well documented on certain incidents that were pushed to the limit to make it appear on their end worse than it was. Workgroups were going on about that time with the TJPC hotline being a hot topic. TJPC needed to boost numbers to justify the need for a hotline. Ask any officer that has been designated in a hotline call how he feels after a kid calls in and accuses the officer of neglect for not giving him a extra snack. Experience talking here. Plus, even if it is unfounded you cannot redact your name from the report for several years "in case another incident occurrs" Chapter 358 is a bunch of bull. I have friends in Dallas County and Harris County that are about to pull up roots and find another carreer because the ANE unit wants to make a name for themselves. Been a detention officer for 20+ years and I have never experienced things like they now are.
10:53 it is even worse when you are a small/medium facility and you have to remove an officer while an investigation occurrs. We have only 5 on duty at any time and if the kids wise up they can cut your working staff in half with 1 phone call. That happened just a few weeks ago and a friend's facility.
With hotlines and posters encouraging complaints, why is this such a surprise.
More broken cookie reports. The hotline is a joke.
Why does it take TJPC so long to act on allegations? No detention center here but hear horror stories of months later TJPC going after a officer's certification when they had already been written up by the chief.
Another waste of taxpayer's money. Isn't that what CPS and the police departments take care of?
Similar to the TYC issues. Deny everything until it explodes in their faces. MO is always the same when these type people supervise kids. Who is in charge?
The numbers definitely increased when the toll line was installed as it gave a means for which kids can call directly which is a good thing,however, with every system, it is flawed. The flaw is the kids can fabricate or embellish incidents which has occurred. The same goes for anyone calling into the CPS hot line as well.
I would like to know if the numbers are actually "Founded" ANE incidents or merely reported ANE incidents. That is a valid question here.
As far are 'what is called' serious incidents, there are definitions in TJPC standards so the statement 10:53 made that 'they started calling everything a serious incident' seems abit far stretched.
Update Needed
03/09/2007
District Attorney Ronnie Earle subpoenaed TYC files after claims surfaced that the agency had censored its internal investigation of the West Texas State School.
Question:
Did Earle (or his office) drop this case?
A few board meetings ago the ANE unit was told by the TJPC board chair to not only report allegations but also confirmed incidents. Was this reported this time and if so why not?
The hotline has become a nightmare. Kids in our LARGE facility realize they run the show now. They can demand to be let out to call anytime they want. A kid the other day made a report that a staff was looking at him wrong and in a threatening manner. Still no word from TJPC if they will investigate or not, probably will.
I'm with 12:25; Did the governor direct that the case against TYC administration be droped? If so, why? Was this because his cousin - the favorite lady involved would bring him into the coverup? Please give us an update on this since it involves the continued corruption in TYC and state management. Thanks for your valuable posts and insight GRITS.
There is so much favoritism displayed across the state who knows what really happened. THY will always be a mess as long as it remains status quo. Time for a major overhaul.
The TJPC Abuse Unit has a job to do and that job was mandated by the legislature. If you don't like their job duty and description then you need to get with your rep or senator.
Folks, I don't think these numbers reflect hotline complaints from TYC. Were there also hotlines created for county detention centers? If so, that might explain the increase.
Scott,
First, TJPC had to put in a hotline for pre- and post-facilities. Additionally, posters and flyers were printed and distributed for all youth in these facilities. Lastly, the numbers you show are "alleged." The actual numbers (also in the packet) of founded are low.
Thanks for clarifying about county-level hotlines, 4:05.
And fwiw, I did mention that these data were for "reported allegations" and that only a small handful of people were disciplined by comparison.
The problem with looking only at complaints considered "founded" of course, is that it assumes all the locals are adequately policing themselves. Maybe they are, but sometimes we also know they do not. That's why I provided a link to the full report, which provides those more-detailed breakdowns. There's a lot more data there, including county-by-county information, than I included in this brief post.
Since the Hotline started, ANE staff in Austin have done a pretty good job. When kids call from our facility complaining about a cancelled furlough or a level drop, or whatever, ANE staff will tell them what they are complaining about is not abuse, nelector exploitation.
Biggest problem we have is getting legitimate complaints investigated. Although departments report these incidents to law enforcement, 9 times out of 10 the complaint is not serious enough for them to place a high priority on it and it just goes on the top of the stack.
Generally, internal investigations are accepted by law enforcement and the ANE unit. We have a moderate number of ANE's reported yearly and the Austin unit has never been to our place.
This all comes from a person who' s fired officers, given days off without pay, retrained, probation, etc. System isn't all that bad, just can be an annoyance and very time consuming.
Then I could talk about jursidictions who fail to report everything.......but I won't.
6:38 I do believe that if you know of ANE going on in other jurisdictions you are required to report. The hotline is for staff as well as residents.
I don't "know", have absolutely no proof, just suspect.
"The problem with looking only at complaints considered "founded" of course, is that it assumes all the locals are adequately policing themselves."
Scott, the counties are required to conduct an internal investigation, however, TJPC also conducts their own investigation and actually makes the final determination if the ANE is founded or not.
Is there any evidence that the number of youth in secure detention/probation facilities has increased because of sB103. SO the idea being that the release of youth from TYC resulting in an increase of incidents at the probation level.
08:55 - no sky is falling scenario yet. Numbers do not reflect what you are axxing.
anonymous @ 10:53 - Imagine being the kid calling in being phycially abused by a guard and it being true and his allegations being called false because he has less power to protect himself than you, the guards, do. Imagine sitting in prison on dismissed misdemeanor charges and also having very little power against guards he demean you every day, threaten you with lockup for no reason, have the cards sent to you by your loved ones smeared with excrement to make sure you don't enjoy them. That's experience too. Read my blogs, that's real abuse of power, it's everywhere, not just in the juvenile detention centers!
I think the reason for the uptick in the reporting and investigation of abuse in juvenile detention centers has much to do with the publicity of the TYC scandal of '06. That made all of us, including juveniles, families, staff and management, legislators and TJPC (to an increased diligence), more aware that abuse is a violation of civil rights and must be addressed.
Captivity of others creates an odd and distorted situation where even good people turn evil. Mr. Tinder should read about the Lucifer Effect in order to help come to terms with his experiences. It won't fix it, but it will bring some understanding as to why it happens.
The best solution to decrease abuse and allegations is to use detention as a very last resort. Some of these detention facilities are used as a first resort punishment for relatively minor things, rather than for the protection of the community as they are intended.
Thank you Annapolly for your suggestion. Interesting study. I didn't get the "why", just validation of the expression "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely" At least in their study, somebody brought the experiment to an end when the horrific effects to all were discerned. Who will put an end to my unlawful imprisonment and minimize the damage to me, my wife, my family and friends, and to all the other victims of TDCJ's secret experiments? Who in the free world cares enough to contact Senator Whitmire or Judge Sam Sparks and demand that the Texas Parole Board be forced to open their files so their the secrecy in revoking parole unnecessarily or setting individuals off who qualify for parole for no lawful reason can be exposed? Who? Anyone whose not a part of the solution is a part of the problem, or so I hear? There's a huge voice out there to be heard.
Juvenile corrections is a challenge. Philisophically speaking, we are correct to attempt to provide youth with a variety of treatment programs and services when it is deemed necessary to confine them in a secure facility. This is a noble cause as we attempt to redirect these kids and prevent them from ever being incarcerated in an adult correctional facility. The mistake we make universally in juvenile corrections is that we fail to establish and maintain best systems and practices relative to good security and social order. We also in many instances hire unsuitable employees and fail to train / supervise them properly. These are critical issues in juvenile facilities, but readily admit that it is indeed difficult to identify the necessary balance between these two oftentimes competing priorities.
We cannot alter the thoughts which control human behavior if we incapacitate young men and women in a chaotic environment that we fail to control. We also cannot expect change if our actions are unprofessional and illegitimate. The end result is always a high level of stress in the field where we as public servants become overly dependant upon the utilization of physical force as a standard response to inappropriate behavior. In the history and culture of juvenle corrections, it is regarded as legitimate corporal punishment which is necessary to modify behavior. It is a terrible fallacy with outrageous results such as physical injuries, abuse, workers comp claims and many other forms of violence within the institutions. There is definitely a better way.
The significant increase from 2007to 2008 is in all likelihood the direct result of youth being released from TYC to local communities and the inevitable challenges they faced as a result. It was the right thing to do, but these increases with physical abuse complaints are just the unanticipated results.
BB
Absolutely agree on the dilema, BB. Also when reading Scott's blog, I remember that old saying: "anything is possible if you are not responsible."
Plato
And Plato, I'd add that anything is possible when those "responsible" grow some balls.
Ouch, Grits! That's gonna leave a mark.
P
Does anyone ever get real on this post?
Reports always show how bad TYC is but of course they are biased in the sense its all about the children. But, what about the employees who get seriously assualted and youths still get to go home. There is something wrong with TYC. The TYC system protecets the youths and does nothing for the staff. When you get assualted your complaint goes to the OIG and your case is never heard of or found again. There is no study on how many assualts on staff are. I wonder why?
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