Looking through the Glass Door at TJJD employee complaints

In the wake of the new Texas Juvenile Justice Department sex scandal out of the Gainesville State School, and reports by the Dallas News of absurdly high turnover rates and abuse of inmates by staff, it occurred to me to check the service "Glass Door" to see if current or former TJJD employees had ever posted there. Indeed, they had!

Glass Door is a service for people looking for jobs. It allows current and former employees to provide input on anonymously on what it's really like to work for an employer. Mostly it's used in private sector contexts, but it turned out there was state agency information, too.

The main positives about the agency were that pay and especially benefits were good for the jurisdiction. But the various negative critiques mounted up. Here's a short compilation of some of the more negative comments made by TJJD employers about their jobs:

• very dangerous environment with little to no troop support.
• we should have been paid more for the crap we had to deal with
• Unsafe environment to work in, Messy Cliques, No appreciation shown to the employees.
• Morale is the lowest in seven years.
• The stress level can often run high. The turn-over rate tends to be high so there are some issues involved with maintaining veteran, well-trained staff. These positions are not for the faint of heart or those who can be easily manipulated.
• Short staffed. Mandatory overtime that you're not paid for.
• The workplace has a negative culture and the state is constantly threatening to close down the facilities.
• Safety is at risk.
• Unsafe work environment. Management is clueless and uncaring. Employees are treated as pawns to be used for coverage. Poor attendance by coworkers is not addressed and employees often have to work 12 hour to 16 hour shifts as you cant leave unless management can find a replacement for you at the end of your shift. 
• This is the most racist place I have ever seen. It is full of hateful and negative teachers and administrators , which they likely keep around. Most if them call the kids trash and have no real desire to help them. Your treatment is based on how well you suck up or sleep around.
• Expectations are high and those that genuinely care for the youth can find themselves doing the work of two or three. 

One employee offers this disgruntled assessment:

Pros
In this company there aren't any pros, unless you are in with the "in" crowd, the morale at the company is very low and that's from management down. As a clerk, there is no room for improvement, no training. There are basically no pros for working for this agency. 

Cons
A lot of work for one person, no career ladder, no room for improvement, self taught.

Ouch!

See a related Grits post: "New TJJD sex-abuse allegations recall similar but different '07 scandals."