Juvenile Correctional Population Projections
December 2, 2011 (1:30pm – 3:00pm)See the related LBB document projecting adult and juvenile corrections populations here (pdf).
Presenter: Jamie Gardner
To determine appropriate funding levels and appropriate policies regarding correctional populations, accurate population projections are vital. Correctional population projections also provide a road map of indicators that influence population growth or reduction. This forum will explore the methodology, techniques, and software used to develop projections for various juvenile justice correctional populations.
LBB believes the precipitous drop in youth prison populations has bottomed out and will remain at current, historic low levels for the foreseeable future. Juvenile arrests continue to drop, but LBB does not expect juvenile probation populations to drop much further.
The event is at the Robert E. Johnson Conference Center in Austin. "Capitol visitor parking is available on the corner of 12th Street and San Jacinto Street. ... For questions you may contact us at cjforum@lbb.state.tx.us or call Michele Connolly or Ed Sinclair at 512-463-1200. Copies of the reports we will be presenting from can be found on our website here."
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49 comments:
If the governor's office puts TYC in charge of TJJD, the population in state facilities will most certainly rise because local probation will lose the support it has had from TJPC to keep the commitments down. If good sense does not prevail soon, this merger will be a colossal failure.
Townsend has shown her lack of leadership from day one when she arrived. Please remember that this agency was under conservertorship when she arrived and she did the following;
Placed a person with no juvenile experience but with a background in finance as her #2, Asst. Director.
She appointed as her top attorney a person who came from Arizona with little to no juvenile justice experience, but did work for Townsend's husband at Wells Fargo.
The #3 person she retained came from Maryland and was at best a mid-level manager whose brilliant ideas brought the program "redirect" and has stated more than once he would like to abolish all security units in TYC.
The Governor should stop chasing this dream he has and pay attention to one of the worst agencies in Texas, created and built by Townsend. Change is needed at TYC or soon to be TJJD and it should come from a person with integrity, experience, and willing to actually show care and empathy for those youth and staff out in the field, lip service is no longer required.
You forgot to add the fact Townsend gave merit increases to her executive administration when no one else has seen a merit increase in 3-4 years and are barely getting by.... she is a pathetic leader.
If anyone really would like to know how the youth behavior REALLY is, come talk with the contract nurses from UTMB. Ask them to tell the truth about their daily experiences with these youth. I pass out meds daily and have never seen the like in 12 years with the youth that we have today. The JCO staff cannot do anything with them so they have their hands tied and usually just allow it.
09:43:00 AM
Starting in 2008, TYC decided to let inmates act any way they wanted to. They call this "reform."
We are all afraid to face up to this bad behavior and the "bosses" don't care.
Finally someone has noticed the huge screw up that is taking place as we speak!
Ask anyone outside of the Austin crew about how bad TYC is now and if they know CT or her inner circle will not know they talked, they say it has never been worse!
Ask anyone from the juvenile field about the consolidation and all but about 4 departments will tell you the only reason they did not fight the merge this time was in thier wildest dreams they could not imagine CT running this new agency!
Two agencies, two ED's, one an embarassment historically and to this day! The other has been called a model agency, in fact the Austin American Statesman awarded it one of the top places to work in Austin.
The ED's are both good people I'm sure, but one has management skills and the ability to convey goals and objectives to the 160 plus departments across the state, the others is having hell managing a downsized 7 facilites! Or the huge 250 central office staff it takes for 7 TYC facilities....your crappin kidding me!
This kind of governemnt think is suppose to only happen in Washington....not the great state of Texas
Finally someone has noticed the huge screw up that is taking place as we speak!
Ask anyone outside of the Austin crew about how bad TYC is now and if they know CT or her inner circle will not know they talked, they say it has never been worse!
Ask anyone from the juvenile field about the consolidation and all but about 4 departments will tell you the only reason they did not fight the merge this time was in thier wildest dreams they could not imagine CT running this new agency!
Two agencies, two ED's, one an embarassment historically and to this day! The other has been called a model agency, in fact the Austin American Statesman awarded it one of the top places to work in Austin.
The ED's are both good people I'm sure, but one has management skills and the ability to convey goals and objectives to the 160 plus departments across the state, the others is having hell managing a downsized 7 facilites! Or the huge 250 central office staff it takes for 7 TYC facilities....your crappin kidding me!
This kind of governemnt think is suppose to only happen in Washington....not the great state of Texas
Last time I checked the Governor chose her (CT) to run TYC. Maybe this is why he is polling sooooo bad in his current race. If not it damn sure will bite him in the butt once you start peeling back the layers upon layers at TYC. I believe CT is thrilled to have this merger, it will most likely cover up how bad the past 3 years have really been under her leadership!
GFB... please keep us updated on the new TJJD. I understand the newly appointed board has already had a few meetings? Are these meetings subject to open meetings act and if so I think readers would appreciate some insight. Don't want to say the meetings are secretive but can't fing anything regarding meetings.
Get a load of this .... Everything is controlled by CT that everything has to cross her desk for her approval. A kid has assaulted some many staff sending several to the hospital. And the sending county has heard about it. Judge from sending county wants to go ahead and send the on to the pen for the assaults.
CT won't send assault reports or allow TYC's own investigator to do his job , thinks it might look bad for the program that they couldn't manage the kid!
Forget consequences, for get staff or safety of everyone !
It's all about CT making it appear things are going great until she lands the big job. Guess when someone is killed a question may get ask!
Working at the Giddings State School is a little like playing tag... wondering who will get tagged next. By tag, I really mean who will be the next person hurt. With the majority of youth being so out of control and no real changes on the horizon to correct the situation, we can only cross our fingers and just hope no one gets seriously hurt or killed.
But we can't continue to stay silent and act like everything is OK. We can't can't continue to look the other way just to "make our day" or make our shift. The truth is, if we stay silent we are as guilty as “the other person” who simply wanted an “easy shift”. I'm thankful to Ms. Urbach and Mr. DeGerolami for trying to make things better here, but at the same time we all need to come to the realization that their hands are tied. It's time for the people in Austin to GET SERIOUS before someone SERIOUSLY gets hurt or we totally lose control of ALL the youth on campus.
I'm not only concerned with staff safety, but with youth safety as well. We all know staff are being assaulted and threatened on a daily basis and that there are many youth, mainly the smaller and weaker ones, who are also being assaulted and threatened. Usually, when a larger and stronger youth hits a smaller kid we simply dismiss it as “horseplay”. It's much easier (and safer for staff) to look the other way than to confront the larger youth, and it happens all too often. Smaller youth are increasingly getting their food/clothing/medications strong-armed away from them as staff look the other way and hope the larger youth won't tear up the dorm if confronted and/or have someone get hurt. Staff also know from experience that referred youth often are brought back to the dorm within an hour or so. Hard to blame these staff for their behavior when their hands are tied.
I dare ask – if a staff or youth gets seriously hurt, who can claim they “didn't know” things were so unsafe here at the Giddings State School? Who will be willing to look into the eyes of a grieving family member of an injured staff or youth and and be able to say “I'm sorry about your mother... she was a good person”... or “Your son was a good kid; I'm sure you'll miss him.” Who?? I would hate to be the parent of a youth committed to this facility – not that I've ever felt sorry for these kids who have caused so much pain to others – but enough is enough. If my son were here, I would ask only that he was SAFE. They are, however, NOT safe. We have let the thugs among them control the campus culture while we simply look the other way, or remain in denial. We need to cut the red tape coming out of Austin. We need to provide more staff protection on understaffed dorms, and, for the youth that can't sleep at night because they fear being hurt.
I'm tired of seeing staff getting assaulted. I'm tired of watching (and assisting) security staff contain out of control youth who refuse treatment. I'm tired of seeing thugs tear up State property on the dorm, engage in full scale riots in the cafeteria, throw rocks at staff, and break windows in buildings and vehicles with the only consequence being an overnight stay in security.
We can no longer wait to institute some necessary changes; we must act immediately. Youth who fail or refuse treatment must go – and go NOW. The campus is not set up for the amount of violent youth we have today. Many staff are intimidated from doing their jobs by youth wearing sagging pants, doo-rags, fighting each other, and sporting new gang related tattoos... and will remain silent out of fear of reprisal.
The point is if we ALL look the other way, we ALL FAIL. We fail the State, the Administration, the youth's parents, the youth themselves -- and ourselves as well. We're still doing the best job we can, and are now desperately asking for Austin's support in helping our agency get back on track with what needs to be done.
Look folks if CT is named the new ED it is past time to get out of this agency. She is about as worthless as I have ever seen, and yes she directs all that pertains to this agency.
The only way to send a clear and consice message about how bad it really is would be to organize a walk out, call it a national sick day on any Friday or Monday. Believe me those in the Governors office will see the sign, if not we can continue until they do. She has to go and new leadership will have to take root before any meaningful change will ever take place. Or you can continue to show up to work and allow the youth to run the facilities, but whatever happened to PRIDE? Did I mention that you can bypass the employee grievance system and go straight to the State Auditor, yes they have a website and you can report annonymously if you would like.
If someone investigated TYC and actually checked their records against what many JCO's have and know there would be a gulf of despairing difference between the reality at TYC and the numbers they are actually showing to keep the legislature and Governor out of their hair. As the Management attempts the emergency "Damage Control." They are causing untold problems within TYC itself. As one can see TYC has again limited the regular JCO access to its website. The fear of what can be revealed is that big that TYC will actually hurt itself to keep access from the staff that need the site to produce the necessary required paperwork that we must do to make the place work and help us dump the defective product back into society. We all know that almost 60% of them will be back either in TYC or TDCJ. We all know this and yet we keep using the defective programs and giving the youth freedoms that they don't even have in the real world. Things like a nice warm place to sleep. All the bedding they can tear up. Clean clothing every day. All the clothing they can use and make "Dew Rags" out of. They get all the hair grease they can use and abuse. All the lotion they can use and take and keep. Along with keeping others from having it and other things. Where else can the Youth in our custody be able to threaten and intimidate staff and fellow youths without any worries of additional charges added to the ones they already have. I remember this from one Youth in particular saying. "Hell! We are crooks we should act like them! TYC does nothing about it and I'll be out of here in a few months to keep going." Now that is just "WRONG." Yet TYC is actual fostering such a mentality and allowing it to happen every day. I can see there terrors running the streets doing exactly what they learned in TYC and harming others. Even the idiots can see that. Oh wait! the Idiots that work as Case workers and Administration either can't or are told by idiots higher up to "Just push them out!" That alone scares me of what will happen when these defective products of the TYC programs hit the street. You might want to watch yourself! One of these youth might come gunning for you!
Hey grits.... I see some common threads here. What's really going on in TYC? It doesn't sound like the front line is happy. I remember Will Harrell once saying happy staff will result in happy kids. This is not reflecting that idea. It's looking prime for abuse again. They were bent like this when it happened the last time.
I must say, Grits, for someone who was quite vocal through the entire "TYC Meltdown," you are surprisingly quiet about the actual merger. Cat got your tongue?
9:17 ditto...
There have been numerous meetings since the appointments and much going ons but the public lines of communication have all gone silent?
Maybe GFB believes that all is well as long as we have a bill printed on a piece of paper.
?????
What most people probably do NOT know is that it's "business as usual" now that TYC has morphed
into TJJD... and business is NOT good.
Just within the past few days at the Giddings campus, there have been a few major riots, resulting in many injuries and thousands of dollars worth of destruction by the youth felons who are committed there. Earlier in the week there was a riot involving lots of pepper spray and scores of youth in the cafeteria... throwing trays, fighting, breaking windows. Yesterday morning it was a mass melee with over a hundred youth fighting staff and each other all over campus, and in the evening an entire dorm was ruined to the point of being uninhabitable. A number of youth had to be chased down while running around on the loose outside at 3:30 AM.
I came to work on my dorm yesterday evening to see dried blood on the floor and only a third of the youth still in their beds; the rest had been taken to security cells. The main cause of the rioting is said to be racially/gang motivated, but it may have been nothing more than youth being angry about the recently limited options on their new flat screen TV's. The reasons aren't important, though. What IS important is for taxpayers, legislators, and parents to know thier children are NOT safe while locked up in the Juvenile Justice system in Texas -- whatever you want to call it.
Serious correctioal officer assaults by youth are common. Illegal understaffing is endemic on every shift, every day. Youth are allowed to sleep in class and verbally abuse teachers instead of working to learn anything. Examples of racism, nepotism, cronyism, sexism, and outright fraud and corruption also occur on a daily basis... and when concerned staff do complain they're told to shut up and live with it or get a job at WalMart. Veteran employees are quitting more and more due to frustration and fear. The staggering rates of absenteeism and the number of those who take FMLA leave means many of us are required to work multiple 12 hour shifts a week. Call it what you what you will, but I don't see how simply changing the name of the agency from TYC to TJJD is going to make much of a difference.
As an institution, TJJD is less than a week old, but time is already running out for those who have been dealing with an agency that has been in failure mode and is only getting worse by the day. Does anyone else really think we'll be able to hide the truth much longer before someone gets killed?
At the Giddings State School it has always been business as usual. The old crowd there is completely protected. Nobody can touch them.
At Giddings, it's open season on the less aggressive students. If the parents knew how their sons are treated by the aggressive thugs they would do something about it. When some parents express concern, staff members give them the old song and dance and sound so sincere.
Thank the "Honorable" Jerry Madden for this big mess!
Thank the Juvenile Justice Association of Texas for this big mess!
Thank those in charge while the governor is roaming the country for this big mess!
For the kids committed, for the staff being assaulted, for the smaller kids being terrorized in the facilities .... We were told yesterday that you are all "collateral damage" to an agenda, guess we just have to try to survive long enough to see what that is. Until then hope no one gets killed or seriously hurt!
8:33 - Told by whom? What is the agenda?
I am very interested in trying to figure out why this "merger" is turning into a bigger TYC. Would love to hear what you have heard. I understand, though, if you can't share. But if you can, please do.
Okay folks now for the good news, CT is on paid administrative leave until January. This will allow her to read more books about juvenile justice, the Missouri Model, and hopefully move to Missouri with her theroies. Why would anyone place a person with no actual juvenile justice expereince over an agency that deals with juveniles. Yes, I understand she has conections, not the treatment program "conextions" that buys behavior, sets kids up for failre, but national people who will "cut" for her. But seriously, she has made this agency one of the worst I have ever seen. Ron Jackson, Steve Robinson, Dwight Harris, and yes even the Pope did a better job.
They are in the process of moving 15 youth from Giddings after their mosr recent issues to the Mart facility. I guess Mart is doing great and has no issues to worry about?? This is how TYC and now the new TJJD handles issues, moves them from one site to the next to hide the real issues, "Lack of Programing"!!! Do you really believe that Giddings will do better just by moving these 15 youth, nope, 15 more will take their place. It has nothing to do with local management, but the programs CT has put in place. Lets all hope that this paid administrative leave becomes permanent leave, for the youth and staffs sake :) Have a Merry Christmas and a better New Year.
I hope your right, maybe we can get this place back into shape while she is out. How long will she be gone and is VS running the agency now?
9:17/10:32 - Cat doesn't have my tongue, I just haven't had the bandwidth to cover juvie stuff when all my paid work where I focus most of my attention is in other areas.
When the TYC scandal broke in 2007 I had just been run out of ACLU on a rail and was unemployed, so I covered the Lege and juvie stuff a lot more thoroughly because I had lots of extra time. Lately, I've had steady work and often haven't had the time. (Also, I got tired of TYC employees flaming each other in the comments and judged that providing a forum for such rants was doing more harm than good.)
If Grits were a full-time job instead of a volunteer hobby, I'd cover meetings at TBCJ, the new TJJD, the Public Safety Commission, the Commission on Jail Standards, etc., like a beat and do a lot more on juvie stuff. But I can't do that part time, I'm afraid, and priorities must be set. Sorry to disappoint.
A man has to feed his family and make a living. Thanks for keeping Grits going. VS is on paid leave too. I wonder why they are getting paid? Lisa was appointed top asst. I hope they just start over and let some new ideas come through. I am just afraid it is nothing but another big agency with so many rules and regulations you have to spend all your time on instead of the real work. Thanks Grits!
We understand Grits, but also realize that most of these TYC rants come from ex-employees, parents, and others who do not have a stake with TYC/TJJD other than to vent and vilify others
We understand Grits, but also realize that most of these TYC rants come from ex-employees, parents, and others who do not have a stake with TYC/TJJD other than to vent and vilify others
I'm afraid your so wrong. I see posts from currently employed JCO's from TYC here and they "Do" have a stake in TYC/TJJD and the jobs that help pay their bills. Until you have been there and experienced the place you shouldn't make judgment calls. I've been working there for a few years now and the place has gone down hill faster than a large perfectly round bolder. Youth pretty much behaved and did the Re-socialization programs at that time and we had very few problems. Assaults on youth and assaults on Staff were few and we had teeth to back then. Youth didn't curse you, didn't threaten you, they didn't act a fool or worse. Youth themselves using the old way of group and peer pressure helped the JCO's and Youth did what was asked. They marched and looked and acted more like what we all expect of a place for Re-socialization. Then the Scandal happened and the legislature and a lawsuit that came about helped drag us down and get us ready for the bolder to roll over us. Youth no longer have and consequences for their actions.
The new program called Connexions is perhaps the worst thought up program I have even experienced. All it does is help push the completely unchanged youth back out onto the streets. Youth can assault staff, other youth, run and climb on the buildings and in most cases they are back on the dorms in less than an hour to laugh at the staff. Come work with me and sit and have youth crowd you and threaten your life every day! Help break up beat-down fights and get hit yourself in the process. Be spit upon and kicked by them. Oh you can bribe them with games, ice cream, cake and pizza. Caseworkers and Management do it all the time. Just last night one large youth told a fellow JCO that he would not tear up the dorm and possibly behave if that JCO would give him cheese crackers on a daily basis!
Earth to Texas! I'm not making this up its reality at TJJD and is going on right now. We just endured a hundred youth plus riot that happened during school. Then that night the youth knew that Security was full they rioted again on several dorms and completely wrecked one dorm and using the pieces torn from the bathrooms beat the back doors open and escaped out side. At 5 am they were still trying to find them all! Only the main fence kept them from escaping and visiting you!
Um' Governor Perry? TJJD needs help! We need JCO's. We need better pay. (almost dead last in the USA for wages. And give us our Teeth back!
Grits we understand ! Please understand after over 20 years of working with troubled kids it's very frustrating to see a system continue to decline. To watch kids that are societies "takers" come here become worse, not change behavior but get rewards. They promise to not fight and get a reward, as opposed to being told we don't fight , and observe the rule THEN be rewarded! And then they are in fight and nothing happens. So they learn to take your reward but do what ever you want because you already have the reward. Again after 20 plus years it's never been this bad!
And it's actually worse for me because my son went into the same field. Only difference he's on the juvenile probation side. He's done well there but after listening to him describe the leadership in Austin compared to ours I'd told everyone it's about to get better after the merge. And now it's looking like it may not.
Grits we are not all just ranting. We have spent our lives trying to make the place a better place! And have few places to turn where someone that can do something might read it. AND they can't retaliate because we told the truth.
I have also worked for TYC for over 15 years and know that the youth we serve are not getting any better but worse. And honestly they can be changed if proper treatment programs were put in place. Not talking about locking up youth and giving them more time, but actually addressing their behavior and giving progressive sanctions/consequences for bad behavior.
Currently we bribe youth to do the right thing, but even when they do not we still reward them. This is what is creating all the issues at every institutions, buying behavior and nobody in CO will do a damn thing about it. They ask for the Moss Group to come down and review all the programs, resoundingly they said you need consequences for those youth who do not abide by the rules. Did she listen, hell no she did not, because she does not and has never worked a dorm.
ART, CLS, SOTP, AOD, none of these treament programs are effective when the youth are out of control. Why is this so difficult for them to understand? When youth walk into your group room cursing, threatening, and everything else, how are you to conduct any meaningful treatment groups? Look at all of those at CO pushing conextions and push them out the door. We do not need resocialization but we do need a treatment program based upon best practices and not just lip service and bullshit from those protecting their jobs.
According to the Austin American Statesman we had a minor probelm here at Giddings. With only one minor injury, boy it must be nice to sit up their in Austin and peddle this crap to all who will listen.
Two days in a row we have over 100 youth breaking tables, tv's, doors, furniture, pepper spray, a lot of youth in mechanical restraints, and they were then running all over campus with these restraints on. Sure am glad we had a fence to keep these children from getting out and making it to CO, they might have caused minor problems with all the cubicles partions up their in CO.
But I was told today that we would move 15 to 20 of these bad youth to another institution, gosh I guess the others will not see this as a way to get moved when you act out. I would have to agree, our programs will have to change and the current leadership who has had her opportunity to fix this needs to go. But I am sure they will slant her record in the paper like they did here at Giddings and all will be well, bullshit.
Guess us JCO's will have to continue dealing with current conditions as are until something like the 2007 scandal publicly breaks again. At that point the Powers That Be will need to scramble around placing blame on others as to why this situation wasn't properly taken care of earlier.
I'm about at the end of MY rope when it comes to trying to ensure things are addressed to prevent such a total meltdown... guess it's just too much to hope for?
I've started a website, written the President, my legislators, the director of TYC, various newspapers/TV stations, even DEAR ABBY in hopes of improving working conditions (and end results) at the Giddings State School and well, I'm tired of trying.
GFB has offered the most feedback so far as to what I've been trying to bring to light, but even so it may not be enough to prevent disaster from striking. The truth is, what's being written here is NOT "ranting" -- they are desperate pleas to simply BE HEARD so that imperative changes in the system can be made -- and made soon enough to prevent another total meltdown as happened previously.
WHEN -- not IF -- the poo hits the fan -- will all the above mentioned individuals and agencies exclaim "Why, we didn't KNOW things were so bad!" SHAME ON THEM if they do.
Guess us JCO's will have to continue dealing with current conditions as are until something like the 2007 scandal publicly breaks again. At that point the Powers That Be will need to scramble around placing blame on others as to why this situation wasn't properly taken care of earlier.
I'm about at the end of MY rope when it comes to trying to ensure things are addressed to prevent such a total meltdown... guess it's just too much to hope for?
I've started a website, written the President, my legislators, the director of TYC, various newspapers/TV stations, even DEAR ABBY in hopes of improving working conditions (and end results) at the Giddings State School and well, I'm tired of trying.
GFB has offered the most feedback so far as to what I've been trying to bring to light, but even so it may not be enough to prevent disaster from striking. The truth is, what's being written here is NOT "ranting" -- they are desperate pleas to simply BE HEARD so that imperative changes in the system can be made -- and made soon enough to prevent another total meltdown as happened previously.
WHEN -- not IF -- the poo hits the fan -- will all the above mentioned individuals and agencies exclaim "Why, we didn't KNOW things were so bad!" SHAME ON THEM if they do.
Scott Fisher, since you are the new board chairman for TJJD, what are your thoughts. Even though we see you visit CT up here in CO and eat lunch with her, does this mean you can actually conduct unbias interviews for those who apply for the ED position. Kinda seems strange that you were the board chairman for the old TYC and you were appointed the new chairman for TJJD, one might think you should excuse yourself from the interview process to show that the process of hiring for this new ED is and will not be biased!!
I really do not know VS who will apply for this position as well but if I were her I would have issues with you sitting on this interview panel. I am not attacking you or your character but the perception does not look good, what say you?
Currently we bribe youth to do the right thing, but even when they do not we still reward them.
They do whatever they want-just like when they were on the streets.
Does Townsend and her crew have any idea of the mess CoNEXTions is creating? Is it her insulation, or is it something else?
Is it just me or do most of us feel that no one is listening?
It's all a game of smoke and mirrors. The current ED's are on paid leave but their people are running the place. Everyone i am sure has heard the governors office is pushing for CT to run the place. Everyone knows VS would be the best candidate but it is BIG government swallowing up the smaller agency.
The Juvenile Probation Field is operating perfectly and diverting many kids from going to the TYC facilities because they know kids will not get services.
PLEASE new TJJD BOARD COME TO YOUR SENSES. It makes sense to have all juvenile services combined but to place TYC over TjpC is STUPID.
MAybe it's time for a new person all together in charge, someone not already connected with either agency. Keep the current ED's on as assistants but a new face with new ideas????? OOOPS too much common sense here.
CT is over or has been over this agency which utilizes conextions as it's treatment program. Everyone knows this program is not working and has not worked. If she was a leader she would have made changes years ago or at least a year ago and changed course. If my child was in TYC I would hold CT liable for the damages done to my child. Every youth who has entered the system has come out much worse than when they entered. If they did not belong to a gang, they do know. If they did not have a tattoo, they do now. This is very simplistic and easy to verify, look at their incoming picture and now look at their current picture. Youth enters with no tattoos, today he has them all over his face, arms, back, etc. Sharing needles to accomplish this task is not very sanitary and the possibility of spreading disease is great. Maybe CT should provide a clean needle program at the new agency, this would fall in line with conextions terminology.
We need new leadership Scott
5:32 am The Juvenile Probation Field is operating perfectly...
Have you seen TJPC's most recent audit? I don't think you would say they are operating perfectly if you have seen it. Look it up...you'll be more than shocked.
Hell, I can live with shocked, but getting my assed kicked everyday at TYC is another thing.
Just as an example of how little gets reported -- during a recent riot at the Giddings State School, youth tore up the dorm and were chucking big hunks of broken granite (from the bathroom stall partitions) through the broken windows separating the front and back areas at the cowering staff. Eventually staff had to LEAVE THE DORM for their own safety, leaving the youth alone and in charge for up to an hour or so.
The youth obviously run their own program there, and staff are powerless to control them. The recent teensy blurb in the Austin American Statesman was totally bogus as to the pertinent details... there were NUMEROUS serious injuries and THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS worth of damage. So much for help from the media... sigh.
Just as an example of how little gets reported -- during a recent riot at the Giddings State School, youth tore up the dorm and were chucking big hunks of broken granite (from the bathroom stall partitions) through the broken windows separating the front and back areas at the cowering staff. Eventually staff had to LEAVE THE DORM for their own safety, leaving the youth alone and in charge for up to an hour or so.
The youth obviously run their own program there, and staff are powerless to control them. The recent teensy blurb in the Austin American Statesman was totally bogus as to the pertinent details... there were NUMEROUS serious injuries and THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS worth of damage. So much for help from the media... sigh.
Please ask Jim Hurley why he gave this report regarding Giddings, he is the media go to person for CO. But he also recieves his info from local administration so I would follow up first to see what your administration reported regarding this incident.
It's time for someone to check on what's going on at the facilities. It's so easy for visitors to get fooled by staff who sing from the same old corrupt hymnbook and have been practicing their verses for years.
If the Austin American Statesman reporter were to have been taken to dorm 5-A on the next morning of the previous night's riot -- INSTEAD OF a wimpy guided ("you'll see what we want you to see")tour -- they would have seen the total destruction the youth had wrought.
Toilets and sinks, broken to pieces... big pieces of broken granite laying around... a number of broken windows, torn up floor tiles, glass and garbage and boards with nails sticking in them, all over the place. The dorm looked like a bomb had gone off inside it. Staff injuries included broken ribs... and AT LEAST one youth injury required hospitalization and some fairly major surgery the next day.
Windows have also been broken out of other dorms, the cafeteria, and the school. Desks that aren't bolted down routinely get overturned, new flat screen TV's are also broken. Not long ago a staff (working alone on a dorm with too many youth as mandated by law) was repeatedly stabbed by a youth.
Somebody in the media will need to talk NOT with the officials on campus, but the rank and file corrections officers if they ever hope to understand what REALLY goes on there. Until then, it's just CYA mode for the Administration and smoke and mirrors from those in Austin.
After reading all of this and working in this mess for many years, I have a very serious question for TJJD board chair Scott Fisher. How do you wrap your head around the events over the past two years, the past few months and last week at the first meeting of the new board and what I'm sure you believe to have been a call from God to go into the ministry?
Do two wrongs make a right? Townsand had every chance to reform an agency with dedicated staff begging for reform and micro-managed everything so much that if there was reform it's only on paper. And kids continue to get hurt and the weakest of those hurt more often.
Only greed can be the reason for handing out big raises to inner circle and leaving the least of these that do the front line work with nothing but fear and worries about the future as her poorly run facilities close down.
How do preside over a new board of the new agency and not care to have one single board member from the TJPC board to help with insight into how the two could be more successful and think that's right or fair.
Kids under your watch are being hurt, have they themselves hurt others to get there yes! But the weakest of those are often victims of a more serious crime than they committed to be sent there. And this sir for the last few years is on your watch. You listen to fabrications of the truth never connect the dots between your friendship of those who at this point can only be considered co-conspirators and what is a higher calling as pastor to protect children and the weak who have no voice !
Sometimes we have to make a choice, realize there is a God and follow His teachings or decide there may not be a God and make it on our own free will. Should you choose the latter I have no doubt that you will try to do your best. But if you believe God put you in a position to do great things then I'm sure the continued damage and harm that happens daily with the current TYC administration and policy and programs can not continue. Things being done fair and right are all new to TYC, the merge did not change that because the very folks that have done nothing are still there. You can make a difference or you can remain a co-conspirator. Not sure where it is in the Good Book but it's about harming a child and being cast into the sea with a stone around your neck. You've carried that stone long enough, change the central office administration ...enough people and kids have been hurt.
Can I get a amen, AMEN!!!
Every facility is tainted with what Ms. Townsend has created over these past 2 or 3 years she has spent as the leader (if this is leadership I will kiss your behind).
What will it take for new leadership to take over this already sinking ship? The superintendents really know the truth about this agency but will not state it for fear of getting transferred or demoted. So this would leave the JCO staff and the case managers, I would even throw in the kitchen staff, maintenance, and the infirmary. Just let them know it will remain annonymous but you want the truth, lets see what they have to say.
If you speak up or have a different idea - you're gone. How pathethic is that. Townsend is not the answer folks - SHE IS THE PROBLEM. Get it??
TJPC Financial Audit
https://fmx.cpa.state.tx.us/fm/audit/ar11-4q/tjpc.php
Heck that audit is nothing. Why is someone making a big deal of it. You can go on the Susan Combs website and find them all for years back. TJPC has scored high on all of their audits for the past few years. TJPC is STILL the one that needs to take the lead in this cluster merger.
I chose to leave TYC in 2008 when I saw the beginnings of this mess. I was a very sucessful department head and was proud of the things we were doing at Giddings prior to the 2007 scandal (which had nothing to do with Giddings).
Anyone interested?? Read the book, "Last Chance in Texas", by John Hubner. He spent several months with us and everything he wrote -- is the truth!!!
An excerpt from that book. . .
It's "about a facility in Texas that ran the most aggressive--and one of the most sucessful--treatment programs for violent young offenders in America".
We were the "best of the best, working with the worst of the worst".
We had teams visit us from Colorado, California, and Florida just to see how we did it.
The "big reform" brought about by Senator Whitmire destroyed everything we were able to do for the youth of GSS. Several excellent leaders/staff left TYC, but they are still around-
SHUT DOWN CENTRAL OFFICE and hire the likes of Robinson & Harris or some of their team as consultants to help put back together what we had going before 2007.
If things are as bad as so many are saying, why has no one contacted the Department of Justice? Has anyone truly examined the credentials of the so-called "experts" running TYC? Has anyone looked closely enough at CoNextions to see that it is simply an exercise in "buying" behavior and has absolutely no treatment value? Doing these things will expose TYC for the abject failure that it is and always will be until ALL of the current, inept, self-serving executive administration is removed and replaced with real juvenile corrections professionals. Is it going to take another "Brookins/Hernandez" scandal or "Evins" fiasco to happen before we see what is right in front of us? Or maybe someone will have to be killed first? It's time to decide...
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