Monday, May 24, 2010

Consultant hired to "assess sexual safety" of TYC youth

From a May 18 message to staff from TYC Executive Director Cherie Townsend:
The TYC has entered into an agreement with The Moss Group to assess the sexual safety of youth in all TYC facilities. Andie Moss and her staff and team of consultants are reviewing all of our policies, procedures, and practices on paper and then visiting all facilities over a five-six month period. When they visit facilities, they are talking with youth and staff in focus groups and observing our operations on all shifts. They have already spent time at Turman House, Giddings State School and Corsicana Residential Treatment Center. This is a great opportunity for us to have an independent assessment of the culture at each of our facilities as well as the safety of staff and youth. I am confident that all staff and youth will share whatever is on their mind with them—it’s important that you do, so that we can continue to improve what we do and our outcomes.
This contract comes on the heels of a federal survey released earlier this year which found that
Two Texas Youth Commission facilities - Corsicana and Victory Field - reported among the highest rates of sexual abuse of all secure juvenile facilities: respectively, 23.7 and 24.6 percent of youth at those facilities claimed to have engaged in sexual contact with facility staff, while 13.7 percent of youth at Corsicana said they'd been sexually victimized by other youth in the past 12 months. See Table 5 on page 8 of the pdf.

Also, "Approximately 95% of all youth reporting staff sexual misconduct said they had been victimized by female staff. In 2008, 42% of staff in state juvenile facilities were female."

It should be noted that, under the law, any sexual contact between youth and staff is considered per se abuse, even if the youth consented or sought out the contact. However, 8.9% of youth at Corsicana and 11.7% at Victory Field reported that staff sexual misconduct involved use of force (Table 6).
At least when Townsend is asked by legislators down the line what was done in reaction to this damning federal report, she can tell them one of the units (Victory Field) was closed and these consultants were hired to suggest improvements systemwide. If they come up with some good ideas, all the better. One wonders: If Dwight Harris had been that proactive, would the Youth Commission have ever gotten into the mess it did in the first place?

In other TYC news, regarding mandatory interim budget cuts at TYC, Townsend writes:
I am very pleased that our target was adjusted to $18.8 million. This means that our target was reduced by $2 million. Our plan to achieve the adjusted target is primarily through savings that have been and will continue to be achieved through our reduced populations. We will continue to manage our position vacancies as well as reduce administrative costs such as office leases and operational costs related to lower populations and reduced travel. There is no plan to close additional TYC facilities or to implement a Reduction in Force.

47 comments:

  1. I think they call it 'attempted CYA', but she was down to her undies before she did any attempting. The stain is there and you can't do away with the smell either.

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  2. Now, now, try not to turn this into a smearfest. As far as I'm concerned these TYC comment strings are already on Super Secret Double Probation, so play nice.

    Make your points, criticize if you must, but don't be rude or mean. Cherie's somebody's daughter, likely somebody's mom, and there's no need to make rude anonymous barbs about her underwear. I'd rather not post about TYC at all than promote a negative culture among employees that tears down the institution, and y'all too often pivot in that direction quite needlessly.

    As Bambi's mother sagely advised, if you can't say something nice (or at least politely, I would add), don't say anything at all.

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  3. It's all about transparency and it is the right thing to do. Townsend is a class act.

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  4. Apparantly she just approved your promotion. Do you feel owned?

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  5. For the record, Grits, it was Thumper who said the "If you can't say something nice..." statement, and he was quoting his father, after being prompted by his mother.

    I want to be nice, but I don't understand why TYC shuts down two facilities to save money, then hires outside consultants to tell the agency what it already knows. I agree that the first commenter's statement is a little rude, but I think it's accurate. The whole problem with the agency is it's philosophy of making some empty gesture they call "action plans." All the leadership has been replaced since the scandel, but the new leadership operates the agency the same way.

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  6. so in all honestly, what do they (TYC) care. Other than the potential lawsuit risks, is this anything more than CYA on their part. "We did due diligence, found nothing of consequence; It all must have been a one time thing... "

    Does it happen, ofcourse it does, I am sure child to child AND regrettably adult to child. However I hold that if TYC really gave a rats to begin with, they would have been running a tighter ship from the onset.

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  7. And the cost of this five or six month study is?????

    Retired 2004

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  8. Many of the female staff at TYC are wonderful. However, from what I have seen, there is a culture among a lot of female staff at TYC that makes certain types of individuals comfortable at TYC. Its hard to explain this, but a lot of staff members are "out there." They party hard and value females who make the rounds with the male supervisors. This is how many of them got promoted.

    Unfortunately, many of these prized females seem to be those who are more likely to also get "out there" with the virile young men who they have access to. The TYC culture is still completely intact and unquestioned. Look at who the supervisors still are and all this becomes clear.

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  9. I know several employees that have got ahead by 'giving head' to supervisors. Sick, but true. TYC has always had this problem and supervisors will do anything to protect it. Good for me-good for you. Screw the youth and others.

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  10. I cannot believe the numbers. One-quarter of the youth in Victory Field and Corsicana claim to have been sexually victimized by staff? And most of them female? When do these incidents happen? Where?? It seems that most of the facility's staff would have to be complicit. If the Moss Group finds a whole bunch of fabricating on the part of the kids, I hope they will say so.

    Remember that the federal study was done by having kids answer questions anonymously on a computer -- no follow-up, no investigation, nothing except raw reports. Do we know if the kids could even read and understand the questions?

    Your first anonymous poster doesn't rightly characterize Mrs. Townsend, and those reports don't show the true character of TYC staff, either.

    XTYC

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  11. Once again hearsay from those who or so uninformed or just to dang lazy to get ahead. I guess it's easy to point and blame others for your inability or lack of aptitude to get ahead, your so sad.

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  12. The TYC road goes on forever!!! TYC is a failed Texas Legislative project with a good dose of Rick Perry's help. TYC is a worse place today than it was in 2007. Could it be that TYC is an example of a politically correct but morally bankrupt society? Society in the United States has been in decline for decades. Our future is bleak and most don't have a clue how far down we are. Other countries are failing and I fear we are going to follow. We may be on the verge of great internal unrest, possibly even civil war or revolution. Some social experts believe the United States could break apart just as Soviet Russia has. TYC could just be one of many symptoms of a collapsing society. Lies, greed, dishonesty, and self serving politicians are not going to fix TYC or our society.

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  13. I conducted investigations in TYC and I was asked how they could keep kids from having sex with each other.

    I said, "Lock them in their cells 24 hours a day and shower them individually, and recreate them individually."

    I was also asked how to keep staff members from having sex with the youth.

    I said, "Allow only heterosexual staff members of the opposite sex to work with the youth."

    However we all know, inmates have sex with each other. Staff members will at times abuse their authority. We also know that inmates will lie and make false accusations to make trouble.

    Obviously the recommendations that I made are illegal and wrong in more than one sense. We must understand that prisons are often filled with bad people who do bad things. Staff members are not always exempt from this.

    Texas, this is your reality check

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  14. The JCO VIs have trained a lot of these TYC females well. They view them as property and being able to write their perf. appraisals give them all the power they need.

    Townsend could bust this system up but she makes no attempt to. The ole "don't rock the boat" idea rules. Its not smart to get too cozy with the long time supervisors. Why are they still allowed to call the shots?

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  15. 9:22, your sentences make sense individually, but they don't hang together well for me. Exactly what is the central message of your post?

    XTYC

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  16. X-TYC and the investigator - you show what is wrong with TYC. All is great, do the stupid and expect miracles. Belive in the dumb leadership. Why do you think all the trouble continues people like you. Stay retired, go retire investigatior of idiocy. TYC is screwed up enough without your inept comments. Her panties are too tight and she can't breath or think properly, from disgustful input from nuts.

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  17. I find all the inappropriate comments on this TYC thread quite ironic and likely would be amused if I could get over my disgust. One thing I have noticed repeatedly in TYC threads, and TDC and probation threads for that matter, is referring to the agency itself as if it were a person, in which fault or credit could be placed. TYC is many, many people and it has been my experience that most often those with the worst things to say are usually the biggest parts of the problem.

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  18. 1:19 What you say is true, but there is a problem with the agency that doesn't change with the people. Government programs are put into place with specific policies. Every new person that comes in must adapt to those policies. People from the outside come in with new and fresh ideas, but they are perceived as trouble-makers. So, in a way, the agency, though not a person, is an entity in itself.

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  19. I would be interested to find out if there is ANY residential institution which has absolutely no inappropriate sexual activity. I doubt it.

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  20. It seems as if inappropriate sexual activities are part of a larger institutional environment. Look at the Catholica Church, the Boy Scouts, the US Legislaure. What has the world come to. As for how the executive's come to be there? Like DH, he was a company man. That's how he came to move up so quickly including the agency's have him prusue an MBA. In spite of that, didn't he become the ED? He inherited quite a lot of the mess and we all report to a boss! I guess all the ED's want to keep their job. But who is directing their actions?

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  21. He also created a lot of the mess. Don't try and cover for the fool that sabatoged TYC.

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  22. You sound like 'O', our supposed leader - he inherited...get over it. Accept responsibility. DH was the coward that allowed TYC to implode from his coherts that bid his desires and favored a select few and special group. He should be in jail. TYC was fairly decent the ten years before DH.

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  23. DH and the inner crowd thought that they would never get caught. They knew that people in TYC keep quite. It was a complete fluke that caused the TYC culture to be exposed. Almost all TYC employees stayed loyal to the culture of corruption till the end. The sexual abuse was only a small part of the stinking culture.

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  24. Whatever the assessment by the Moss Group costs, it will be worth it. I want to see it, as well as their method of gathering information.

    (1:23 p.m., take a hike -- please.)

    XTYC

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  25. You are X, so X-out, you are out of touch with the situation.

    The thugs that are running TYC these days needs to be investigated by an agency far above the state authorities. Otherwise these thugs and their actions against employees and youth will continue. They are protected from discipline by their bosses. The sexual safety of youth will continue and probably get worse.

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  26. This is sad to say but all the post that are complaining about TYC are telling the Truth. Some just don't know how to put it in a tackful way so they sound like the people they are talking about. But that is Ok, because they are not making this stuff up. Most don't want to listen to the truth about this agency and its leaders.
    If you are not working for TYC then you can never ever understand what is going on with employees of that agency. I don't care who you are or what you do for a living. Its like a person with cancer, no one knows what is really going on inside of that body and that is what TYC is a Cancer.
    I am no longer employed by them as I was lucky and got to retire, I visit this site everyonce in awhile now to see what has been posted in the headlines. Hoping one day I would find positives for the workers at TYC. Guess that will never happen. Glad I am retired.

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  27. Thanks for your honesty. There are many working for TYC that flat lie about internal affairs and try to demonize people that bring out TYC's problems. Some people don't know the truth and some don't care but at least you who spent a career with the agency now comes forth with the truth of this hateful and unjust agency. The public owes you their support and thanks for your honesty. Best to you.

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  28. Yea, sure 9:29. I bet you also think 'Raped by the State' is true. If it was true there would have been many come forward to indorse it. So much for the truth.

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  29. 9:29. It's true that too many of us retired folks went along with the month by month programs implemented politically without first regard for the youth committed to their care. There has to be a shared set of values among all staff demonstrated by top management. We followed directions poorly given, inadequately supervised, and without encouragement/consequences for our own actions - Until the agency develops a coherent philosophy absorbed/agreed by folks who actually have the greatest impact on these youth - correctional officers (child care workers) when I got to work directly with youth) - there will continue to be a rift between the jailer mentality and the helping softer side. You can be a jailor who expresses some type of care and concern and still be a jailor.

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  30. I was somewhat upset at Randy when he first published his tell-all book. I think many were upset when he brought TYC out for what was really happening in the commission. I/we didn't need any more bad publicity but he apparantly fely the story had to be told. Maybe the story should have been told years before and much of the anger and frustration could have been prevented.

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  31. 10:37 This is 9:29 and No I don't endorse Raped By the State and you are incorrect. Apparently, you don't work for or have worked for TYC, you just like to post "fire starting statements on Grits.
    I have nothing to gain or loose anymore from the agency and I am glad to say that. But I do know what is happening there and in the past years I was there.
    You have your right to your opinion but in my case you are wrong. I don't intend to feed a pissing contest here on Grits either.

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  32. 2:07 - It is obvious that you did work for TYC. You contradict yourself and speak out of both sides of the mouth - a true TYC insignia. You were leading a double life it appears. Too bad you didn't standup when it counted. So many like you failed to help the kids and sold out the public just to be a team player.

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  33. I know we are on Secret Double Probation, but the fact that TYC staff come to this website to vent our frustrations is a sign of the corruption of the agency. The corruption is not created by clever, conspiritorial, or even evil people. It's caused by people who get into positions of power without any real qualifications. One has to have a certificate to teach, be a nurse, or a psychologist, but we have administrators that don't even have degrees. Recently, four highly-qualified people interviewed for a job, but the posting was closed, because none of them met the criteria of one administrator. It is obvious to almost everyone that the job was reposted to give preference to someone who "looked" good, and I'll leave it at that. That is the kind of thing that got the agency in trouble, and it will cause it problems down the road. No consulting firm can fix that.

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  34. 03:32
    The top layer at TYC had a bucket full of credentials. To outsiders they looked good. Unfortunately, they used those credentials to hide behind. The most high ranking psychologist in the agency (LR) was a front man (woman) that made the corrupt inner circle look good. She covered for all the worst actors.

    Those with "real qualifications" were the real problem.

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  35. 04:58 Let's do our best to pretend that all this TYC corruption was limited to Brookins and only related to sexual abuse. Let's say that everything else was hunky dory. That's what the dirty insiders want us to believe.

    Let's ignore a twenty year career of support for the dirty insiders and just say "she may have failed to act."

    "Brookins got to where he was because he kissed the right backsides." Whose backsides were those? Care to name them?

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  36. All this talk of LR and RB is so 3 years ago. Can we try to move forward with some solutions?

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  37. You can't look forward until you unravel and accept the past. To just push it to the side and move on is what TYC always does and wants to continue to do. Those that push that policy are as bad as those that implemented it in the first place. There are several still in the system that caused our problems and continue to hide out with losers protections. You want to move on to cover more indecent leadership. Clean it up or leave the system-TYC trash.

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  38. There was a time, several years ago, when TYC meant something respectable. Folks were proud to work there and share their abudance with the public. Now the secrecy, deception and wrongdoing in TYC has caused the public outcry for reforms and punishment of employees rather than tourtured inmates. Far past due, TYC needs to be abolished and the slaves set free.

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  39. Why is it that folks seem so suprised to think that top agency officials "oil spill" was contained? It's an agency thing that has been going on for decades. Surprised? Ask some old field generals. Even the most reputable of the field generals were coerced to keep things under wraps.

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  40. There is a big difference in not 'showing the public your dirty laundry', and intentional coverup of 'people abuse and corruption by public officials'. If you can't see the difference you are part of the problem.

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  41. Suck it up and move on. You had a chance to change TYC before but you sat back and let it implode. You were a team player then, now reap what you helped sow and stop the complaining.

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  42. Want a real crash course in corruption, come to Evins. Since the day it opened, it has been that way and will continue to be until someone has the balls to say "enough is enough". If you are not fortunate enough to be from there, or if you're, white or black, every effort will be made to run you off or get you fired. Everyone in CO knows it, but chooses to ignore it. The only things about TYC that have changed is the names of crooks running the show. After that, it's the same as it ever was. Wake up Ms. T! JS and his boys only tell you what they want you to know.

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  43. 06:46

    The old "turn your head and look the other way" approach is still alive in TYC.

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  44. What do you expect with Billy running the show at Evins. Look at what happened at West Texas and San Saba.

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  45. Everybody has been quite about what went on at San Saba.

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  46. Several people knew about the wrongdoing at San Saba and also at West Texas, yet they chose to watch and be quiet as youth were abused time after time. Don't get the bosses upset, you may not get promoted or get that pay raise. What is giving up integrity and self respect worth - it meant little to those wanting a pay raise and being part of the 'gang'.

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  47. So sad that you think that way. That is what brought the tragedy of the TYC downfall. Cherie knows full well about out history and how we got here. She also is playing the TYC game now and will continue to. If you are unhappy with the TYC 'game', best you move on, it will not change; Cherie is a big portion of the 'game'.

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