Spriggs takes CASA post; out of running for new TX Juvenile Justice Department

For those speculating who may lead the new Texas Juvenile Justice Department, scratch Vicki Spriggs' name off the short list. The former Juvenile Probation Commission Director took a job at Texas CASA - "Court Appointed Special Advocates" - which is "the statewide association for 69 local programs that advocate through volunteers for children in the foster care system." See the full announcement on their website. Good luck, Vicki!

Rough waters lie ahead for yet-to-be-named captain of new Juvenile Justice Department

Though due to a sheer lack of bandwidth Grits has been forced to curtail juvenile justice coverage, the biggest (if little-discussed) criminal justice story in the state this month surely is the abolition on December 1st of the Texas Youth Commission and the Juvenile Probation Commission, merging the two agencies into the new Juvenile Justice Department, whose board (see a list and descriptions) met for the first time last week.  At the Texas Tribune, Brandi Grissom's story on the transition opens:

The Texas Youth Commission and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission are officially gone, and in their place, a new agency is taking shape — lawmakers and advocates hope — to more efficiently and effectively deal with young offenders.

The new Texas Juvenile Justice Department's oversight board met for the first time last week, appointing an advisory panel to take recommendations as it merges the agency's two predecessors. They expect to hire a new agency leader as soon as next month.

Throughout the story legislators and policy wonks predict budget savings from the merger, and perhaps that will be the case, but it's also the case that the Lege needs to make targeted investments in community-based  services to ensure that kids diverted from youth prisons, and those supervising them, have adequate resources and support. In an article earlier this week from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram ("Tarrant juvenile justice officials wary about new combined state agency," Dec. 4), TJJD boardmember Scott Fisher said he thinks that will happen: "I think you're seeing a greater level of state funding of community-based programs than has existed in the past, because community-based programs do have a higher success rate with the population they deal with."

A judge in the Startlegram story questioned whether the agency would come to be dominated by youth prisons at the expense of probation and community-based programs, as has happened in the adult prison system: 

"The concern I think that we all have is that ... when we get in a funding crunch, then the needs of an institution -- which is basically what the Texas Youth Commission was, basically a juvenile prison -- might draw money away from the needs of children in the community," said Jean Boyd, a Tarrant County family law judge who was on the board of the Juvenile Probation Commission until it folded.

Boyd had opposed the merger, but she is now waiting to see how the new agency develops.

"I have to be hopeful," she said. "I support juvenile justice, and I want the agency to be successful, because we need it to be successful for our children."

Who will lead the new agency?

The newly appointed 13-member board met for the first time Thursday and launched a search for a new executive director.

The executive directors of the two previous agencies have applied for the post, and both were placed on paid leave until the board makes its decision on hiring when it meets again next month, Fisher said. Dr. Robin McKeever, the former deputy director of the youth commission, was named interim director.

No employees have lost their jobs, and all positions have been merged into the new agency while officials look for duplication. The Texas Youth Commission had about 3,500 employees, most of whom work in detention facilities. The Texas Juvenile Probation Commission had about 75 employees.

"You're taking two agencies and combining them, so there's going to be some change," Fisher said. "I think there's some uncertainty in the ranks out there."

Not only is there uncertainty in the ranks, it's fair to predict based on past experience with the state merging other agencies that rocky transitions are nearly inevitable - a regrettable feature of the process, not a bug. It's the little stuff that's most difficult: Are the computer systems compatible? How will information management systems be merged? How will the web sites be integrated? Should probation and parole supervision functions be merged? What differences in agency cultures and/or historic priorities will create internal friction? Nobody knows yet and it will take quite some time for the biggest challenges to even become fully apparent. For that reason, my hope is that the Lege will focus for a session or two on finding resources for community-based programming and keep their mitts off the agency's governing structure until the new, yet-to-be appointed leadership team has a chance to get their feet under them.

Speaking of whom, the head of the new agency could be Vicki Spriggs or Cherie Townsend, the past executive directors of the Juvenile Probation Commission and the Youth Commission respectively, or conceivably somebody else, though the smart money is on one of those two getting it. [Grits readers should express their preference in the comments, with two caveats in the interests of constructive civility: 1) be polite, respectful and avoid name calling or I'll delete your comments and shut down the string and 2) don't advocate one or the other candidate without giving a reason why.]

I respect both candidates, but my gut tells me drawing leadership from the Juvenile Probation Commission may better focus agency priorities on the needs of probation, with a shorter ramp up period than we might see hiring from TYC. Vicki knows the local systems much better and would have less of a learning curve coming in to address the main challenge facing the agency - beefing up local, community-based services. That's only my tentative sense, though, and Cherie Townsend also brings many strengths to the table. Both women were given a month off with pay while the new TJJD board figure out what they want to do.

Here's Townsend's farewell letter to TYC employees and more background on TJPC's website.

Conservatives praise 'Texas model' on criminal justice reform

Just received this press release from the Right on Crime initiative announcing two new public policy reports from the Texas Public Policy Foundation:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 30, 2011

Right on Crime and TPPF Release Reports on Texas Corrections Reform

Texas achieves dramatic results in criminal justice reform

AUSTIN, TX - Right on Crime and the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) today released two policy briefs regarding Texas' extensive criminal justice reforms in juvenile and adult corrections. Over the last decade, the groups' policy advisors have been instrumental in working with the Texas legislature and Governor Rick Perry to overhaul the state's corrections system.

"For the first time in state history, Texas closed a prison because we don't need it anymore," said Marc Levin, Senior Policy Advisor to Right on Crime, who also serves as the Director of the Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.  "The reforms that were first adopted in Texas have stimulated similar initiatives across the nation in South Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, Ohio, Arkansas, and other states.  Crime has dropped in Texas since the changes and taxpayers have saved more than a billion dollars from not building new prisons.  We believe these commonsense policies, which were supported by 'tough and smart on crime' conservatives and are outlined in these reports, can serve as an effective model for other states."

According to the report Adult Corrections Reform:  Lower Crime, Lower Costs, policies initiated since 2005 have expanded capacity to alternatives to incarceration that hold nonviolent offenders accountable and provide effective supervision. This has helped Texas reduce its crime rate by 12.8 percent since 2005 while also reducing its incarceration rate by 9 percent. Additionally, the number of new crimes committed by parolees fell 8.5 percent from 2007 to 2010.

The second report, Comprehensive Juvenile Justice Reform:  Cutting Costs, Saving Lives, revealed that through key reforms, Texas was able to reduce the number of juvenile crime cases by 9.1 percent from 2007 to 2011.  Among the reforms, Texas moved away from an overemphasis on incarcerating less serious youth offenders in remotely located state lockups and towards evidence-based community corrections programs that produce a greater reduction in re-offending for every dollar spent.

"While we have more work to do, the Texas model of reform has proven to be extremely effective in both increasing public safety and saving taxpayers' money," said Brooke Rollins, president of TPPF and a Right on Crime signatory. "In criminal justice, it is vital to align policies with the current research indicating what works to protect communities and reform offenders, rather than simply maintain the status quo. The commonsense approach outlined in these new reports provides a roadmap for other states to follow Texas' model in modernizing the corrections system in a way that reduces crime and cuts costs."

To view the reports, click here.

While the state deserves credit for various reforms passed in the last few years, this last session Texas legislators backed away from a more aggressive reform agenda, much to this writer's dismay, de-emphasizing the strategies embraced over previous sessions instead of doubling down. As regular readers, know, I'm willing to give credit where credit's due, but I was disappointed Texas legislators didn't seize the opportunity presented to them by the budget crisis to more radically reform the corrections system, particularly on the adult side. Indeed, in many ways I fear this failure to act in 2011 may, in the medium to long run, set the agency up to fail.

Historian: Merger of juvenile agencies risks repeating old mistakes

Occasional Grits commenter and UT-San Antonio historian Bill Bush had a column in the Austin Statesman over the weekend warning that officials charged with merging the Texas Youth Commission and Juvenile Probation Commission should avoid mistakes of the past. He notes that the initiative has been deemed by the MSM as "the feel-good story of the recent Texas legislative session," but warns that state leaders would "do well to avoid the mistakes of a previous generation of juvenile justice reformers. They too sought to end horrific abuses in "youth prisons," and, despite great promise, they failed badly."

Said Bush, "Twice in the recent past," by which he means, since World War II, "much-celebrated juvenile justice reforms have ended in disaster, with beaten, bloodied and abused youths in tow. Texans ought to be asking themselves: Will this time be any different?" He warned:

A major selling point for the Texas Juvenile Justice Department is its purportedly lower price tag, but the Legislature and the citizens who elect its members must be willing to invest the necessary resources should the cost increase in the short term — as it well might — to equip local agencies to provide the quality services that will be needed to steer at-risk youth in the right direction.

Equally as important is a widely shared commitment to supporting the local, noninstitutional approach over the long haul. Our elected officials need to stand firm in the face of inevitable reports of sensational youth violence, which have often accompanied previous "get tough" campaigns to build youth prisons and impose draconian sentencing guidelines.

Oversight will also be key to the new department's success. Local agencies must be held accountable for their actions and policies, and communication must strive for the highest level of transparency. The history of juvenile justice over the past century is littered with abuses that festered due to a lack of sunlight.

History repeats itself, the saying goes: The first time as tragedy, the second as farce. Let's hope the third time's the charm.

TYC facility closures announced

Via a press release from youth advocacy groups, we learn which Texas Youth Commission facilities will be closed as part of the agency's consolidation with the Juvenile Probation Commission into the new Texas Juvenile Justice Department later this year:

AUSTIN – Today, the board of the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) announced closure of three juvenile correctional facilities: Al Price State Juvenile Correctional Facility in Beaumont, Crockett State School in Crockett and Ron Jackson State Juvenile Correctional Complex Unit II in Brownwood. Additionally, McLennan County StateJuvenile Correctional Facility Units I and II in Mart will be consolidated. Leading juvenile justice advocacy organizations in the state—Texans Care for Children, Texas Appleseed, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition and Disability Rights Texas—jointly released the following statement in response:
 
Although these facilities are being closed in response to the 82^nd Legislature’s budget decision to remove $117 million from TYC, shuttering lock-ups has the potential to be positive for Texas. Institutionalizing youth is ineffective and expensive.  For most youth, community-based treatment works better than institutional lock-ups in efforts to reduce recidivism, and it comes at a lower cost to taxpayers.  Indeed, when Texas has reduced the number of youths in institutions in the past, the result has been both lower costs and greater public safety. Today Texas has an opportunity to continue recent momentum toward making rehabilitation central in juvenile corrections.
 
What is not yet known is what will happen to the hundreds of youth housed in the three facilities that will be closed today—whether they will be moved to the remaining seven facilities or served in other ways. The agency has flexibility to de-institutionalize many of these youths, including specialized populations, such as those with mental health issues.  In these instances, TYC is authorized to re-direct youth into community-based services, such as those offering mental health treatment.
 
Other youth could also reside in non-secure settings, such as halfway houses appropriate for youth who are nonviolent and low-risk, and those who have already made significant rehabilitative progress at TYC.  We look forward to working with the agency and the legislature to support the maximum use of this flexibility to de-institutionalize youth and to ensure rehabilitative needs are met.

If youth are simply moved to remaining facilities, the agency, Legislature and public should expect conditions inside facilities to worsen. Youth lock-ups that house more youth are more likely to have staff-on-youth, youth-on-youth and youth-on-staff violence, like what the state saw prior to the TYC reforms initiated in 2007. Returning to those conditions would undo what progress has been made and create a shaky start for the new Texas Juvenile Justice Department, set to replace TYC and TJPC later this year under SB 653 by Whitmire.

My condolences to those who'll lose their jobs. I know this has been hard on everyone involved, but at least now everybody can make plans and move forward. The downsizing of Texas youth prisons even as juvenile crime continued to drop has been a remarkable achievement, despite the tumultuous atmosphere it's created at the agency. Let's hope that good fortune continues as Texas' juvenile justice agencies are merged and the Juvenile Justice Department's new leaders are chosen.

MORE: Thanks to a reader for pointing to TYC board materials posted online about facility closures.

See related MSM coverage:

• KTRE-TV
• Beaumont Enterprise, and here
• Brownwood Bulletin
• Austin Statesman

Juvie justice reforms cross ideological divide

Patti Hart at the Houston Chronicle ("Lawmakers in lockstep on juvenile justice," May 22) marveled that legislation merging the Texas Youth Commission and the Juvenile Probation Commission found:

an endorsement by the strangest of political bedfellows this session: the liberal Texas Appleseed and the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation.

Their joint endorsement blessed the latest milestone in a five-year transformation of the Texas criminal justice system, perhaps the one area in state government where the left and right have found common ground — in the shared belief that prisons cost too much and accomplish little.

Particularly noteworthy in her story was a quote from a conservative donor and boardmember from the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) on why a conservative group would back such an initiative:

TPPF generally supports low-tax policies, but its involvement was inspired by more than just fiscal concerns, according to Midland oilman Tim Dunn, a donor and board member. Dunn said he decided to underwrite a criminal justice researcher at the think tank because he was impressed by former Nixon adviser Chuck Colson's prison ministry. He also saw the growth of the prison industry as an extension of government power, which clashes with his views on limited government.

"We care about money too," Dunn said. But, he added, "It is not in our best interest to take someone who is a productive member of society and train them to be a hardened criminal. It's morally stupid."

Hart mentioned that Sen. John Whitmire and Rep. Jerry Madden have "promoted similar reforms in the adult criminal justice system," but the adult-side reforms haven't been nearly as sweeping as among juveniles, where the youth prison population has declined an astonishing 72% since 2006 while juvenile crime steadily declined. Grits was hopeful that the success of de-incarceration among juveniles coupled with the budget crunch would spur larger reductions in adult incarceration, where the 2007 reforms praised by Hart in the article have mostly maximized their impact and stalled out. Technical revocations are down on the parole side, she notes, but on the probation side they remain stubbornly high. Texas' decision to close one prison this year - the first such closure in state history - pales in comparison to what's happened at TYC.

Texas' juvie model provides a blueprint for a much more massive de-escalation of costs on the adult side, if the Lege can ever muster the political will. This session, they could not. But the more that backers of limited government begin to extend that critique to mass incarceration, the sooner the time may come when that can happen. At the end of the day, as P.S. Ruckman recently pointed out, sensationalistic media hyping fear is probably a bigger barrier to change than conflicting political ideologies, which as demonstrated in this story can accommodate reform on both the left and the right.

Questions remain after TYC, juvie probation merger

Governor Perry has signed the TYC-Juvenile Probation Commission merger into law, establishing a new Texas Juvenile Justice Department by the end of the year. But Tarrant County juvie probation director Randy Turner worries that the merger wasn't well-enough vetted and "that assumptions driving the merger could be wrong," reported the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on May 18. In particular, Turner worries:

that projections of stable levels of incoming youths may be incorrect. Many nonprofit, county and city institutions are experiencing cutbacks, which may make it difficult for them to serve young offenders.

Those realities, in addition to economic hardships for the families of at-risk children, could bring more youths through the juvenile justice system's doors, Turner said.

During the past four years, the federal government has cut funding to local juvenile programs; Tarrant County's portion fell from as much as $3 million to $300,000, Turner said.

"The cuts are coming," Turner said. "Families are in economic distress, people are losing their jobs, there's been a loss of resources in the schools and a loss of mental-health resources. I can't help but think that the probability is greatly increased because of all the cuts that more of these children will be funneled into the criminal justice system."

Whether or not those concerns are justified or will bear out in the real world, the deed is done. By the time the 83rd Legislature convenes in 2013, it should be clear whether Mr. Turner is just a Nervous Nellie or Nostradamus. I've heard similar concerns about the merger from a handful of institutional players in and out of the capitol, but nearly every critic of the bill save Turner refused to publicly criticize it because they feared the two powerful committee chairman - Sen. John Whitmire and Rep. Jerry Madden - who were pushing the idea.

OTOH, Grits would be the first to concede there are strong arguments for the merger on efficiency grounds, particularly given TYC's massive recent downsizing. Time will tell whether this merger represents actual "reform," or merely change for change's sake. I honestly don't have an opinion on the propriety of the merger. I can see good points from both sides, but there are quite a few questions neither proponents nor critics seem able to answer. And advocacy groups this year too frequently played the role of cheerleader for the bill instead of loyal opposition, providing political cover for the merger instead of insisting all the hard questions get asked and publicly answered.

As an aside, among juvie justice advocates it's a true shame that the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition couldn't find money to keep my friend Isela Gutierrez on board after her excellent work in the 80th and 81st sessions: She was one of the only juvie advocates who I always trusted to shoot straight, even if it risked pissing off powerful people - a rare commodity indeed under the pink dome. Yet she always did so in a respectful, even humble manner that your correspondent greatly admires but could never replicate. We really missed you this year, Isela! :-(

Juvie justice merger leaves open questions

House amendments to legislation merging the Texas Youth Commission and the Juvenile Probation Commission into a new Juvenile Justice Department (SB 653) have been approved by the Senate, and the bill is headed to the Governor. See coverage from:

• Austin Statesman
• Texas Tribune

The next debate will be over which youth prisons to close. Three unspecified units are slated for closure and legislation that cleared the House earlier this week would let the state sell their property. The decision will be one of the last made by the current commissioners at TYC before the two agencies are merged, and there have been a series of town hall meetings to accept local input on which units should go. There's another one Saturday in Corsicana, where there's not only a TYC unit employing quite a few locals, but Navarro College has programming aimed at training TYC staff and allowing youth to earn college credits through courses taken via video.

Texas Appleseed put out a glowing statement praising the bill's passage, and I hope it's the right thing to do. My biggest concern is the requirement that the Inspector General refer criminal complaints to local law enforcement, which of course is what got us into this mess in the first place, when allegations of sexual abuse were covered up and/or ignored by local law enforcement for years at the now-closed West Texas State School in Pyote. On that score, regrettably, we're back to square one. There's nothing in the bill that would prevent exactly the same thing from happening again.

Also, sticking probation in the same agency as prisons in the adult system turned community supervision into a red-headed stepchild, an afterthought for an agency whose identity is wrapped up in the self-image of a prison manager. That's why, when budget cuts were mandated, TDCJ refused to offer up suggestions for prison closures, instead pushing cuts to probation, parole and reentry programming that will inevitably BOOST prison costs. Legislators, in turn, went along with those priorities because there was no institutional advocate for probation programming making the argument that it made more sense to cut prisons instead.

Whether the new juvenile justice agency will suffer the same bias depends a lot on who runs it and how the transition is managed. Because it was founded based on the concept of closing youth prisons and shifting resources to community-based programming in counties, I'm cautiously optimistic that replicating TDCJ's prisons-first culture isn't an inevitable outcome, but it's a possible one.

TPPF: Reinvest savings from juvie corrections merger in community-based programs

Marc Levin and Vikrant Reddy from the Texas Public Policy Foundation have an op ed out today encouraging combination of the Texas Youth Commission and Juvenile Probation Commission, with the caveat that part of the savings should be reallocated to community-based diversion programs. The legislation, SB 653, is on the Major State calendar in the House today. The column opens:

Legislation that sunsets Texas’ two juvenile justice agencies could bring a brighter future for the state’s most troubled youths. The Sunset Commission has advised that the Legislature consolidate the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (TJPC).

On April 13, the Senate passed Senate Bill 653 which implements the broad contours of the Sunset Commission’s recommendation.

Now, Texas House of Representatives members must seize the opportunity to further strengthen this legislation by reallocating part of the savings, enhancing community-based programs and incorporating outcome-oriented performance measures to assess results.

The consolidation of the juvenile agencies should not be considered a public policy “experiment,” but rather a continuation of proven reforms enacted in 2007 and 2009.

The principle behind those prior reforms – and the principle embodied in Sunset’s consolidation recommendation – is that juvenile justice must shift its emphasis from incarceration to rehabilitation, emphasizing education, employment, and victims’ restitution.

Studies have found that re-offending rates are lower when youths are kept in their communities, closer to their families and social supports such as schools and churches.

In most instances, non-residential programs including drug courts, victim-offender mediation, and probation supervision and treatment are most cost-effective.

For some of the most serious offenders, residential settings near major metropolitan areas from where most youth offenders come can both protect public safety and maintain contacts with the youth’s family which is critical to successful reentry into society.

The results of moving towards community-based solutions for holding youths accountable speak for themselves.

RELATED: See this fact sheet on the merger legislation from TPPF.

UPDATE: The merger bill passed the Texas House with a number of amendments. Rep. Sylvester Turner opposed the bill, arguing that the agencies are working well and that the bill creates a "super agency" that because of its structure may shift costs down to the counties. The House, however, sided with Reps Madden and McClendon and approved the legislation on a voice vote.

Programming cuts v. prison closures: The inevitable tradeoff

Prison closures were abated and some of the probation and treatment funds scheduled for cuts were restored in the state budget on the Senate side yesterday, as well as shifting money from road funds to the Texas Department of Public Safety, while the House and the Governor continue to back deeper cuts. According to a release on the Senate website:

A Senate subcommittee charged with evaluating funds dealing with prisons and the Department of Public Safety recommended increasing appropriations by almost $300 million Monday. These recommendations would restore allocations to current budget levels for many programs. Current funding in the Senate's version of the budget for public safety agencies is about $9 billion, which is more than a billion dollars less than the last budget.

The subcommittee recommendations would put more money into probation and drug treatment programs and would move $100 million from the state's transportation fund, called Fund Six, to Department of Public Safety. Fund Six diversions have been controversial in the past, as critics say that reducing money marked for highway construction and maintenance leaves the state relying on private entities to build toll roads. Subcommittee Chair Senator John Whitmire said using Fund Six money for highway enforcement is within the constitutional intent of the fund. "I'm very committed to the needs of DPS," he said. "We ask them to do more and more along the border, in particular, and along our highways. Fund Six does allow you to spend highway funds if the security and enforcement is related to our safe highways, so we went with the agency and identified easily a hundred million of their request which could be directly related to safe highways."

The subcommittee will present its recommendations to the full Finance Committee later this week.

Mike Ward at the Austin Statesman summed up the Senate changes thusly:

Back in: $273 million for the state corrections system, including funding for rehabilitation, treatment and parole programs, plus $31 million to keep the Central Unit in Sugar Land open; and $32.7 million for DPS to hire 646 additional troopers, $22.8 million for new vehicles and unspecified funding to restore the uniform-cleaning allowance for state troopers.

Out: $10.2 million for operation of a drug treatment lockup in Burnet; $23 million from the Texas Youth Commission's budget, in expectation that the agency will be merged with the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission; and a directive that controversial raises the Youth Commission awarded to eight executives last year be rescinded.

Still on the table: $111.4 million in additional funding for expanded border security.

This is the same subcommittee that just slashed vocational ed classes in prisons by roughly the same amount as it cost to keep the Central Unit open for the next two years, a decision that IMO should be flip-flopped. Texas already releases 72,000 people per year, so most folks in TDCJ are going to get out. From the standpoint of crime reduction, since they're getting out anyway, I'd much rather the agency close a prison and educate more of the prisoners who remain, which in turn dramatically boosts their chances of being employed one year after incarceration. I wish I knew what secret forces were pushing to keep the Central Unit in Sugar Land open. I've long thought that if there was a chance they'd close any prisons at all in the current budget crunch, it'd be the first one to go; locals have lots of good reasons to want it shut down. But especially if the direct tradeoff, as in this subcommittee's recommendations, is cutting programs that reduce recidivism and long-term incarceration costs.

As far as DPS' budget is concerned, IMO the border security money distributed so far has mostly been misspent on activities that either fundamentally misunderstand the real crime problems on the border or seek to exploit them for political gain at the expense of maximizing public safety per dollar spent. If that's ever gonna change, this is the budget cycle when you'd expect it might. Texas already pays for too much of our transportation budget on credit, and DPS may need more troopers but not more missions. Each new one comes at the expense of the agency's core, historic functions.

This hesitance to act in many ways reflects the public mood. According to polling, the public is living in a fantasyland where they believe the state can continue to fund all government services, not raise taxes, and for many (most importantly the Governor), not raid the Rainy Day Fund. That's not true, and eventually the math will force some behind-the-scenes realism, but likely not until May, or maybe even over the summer.

I'm certainly glad the subcommittee restored most probation and diversion funding, but unless I'm misreading my tea leaves, which is certainly possible, the choice to tradeoff vocational ed in prisons and the treatment facility in Burnet with keeping open the Central Unit may bode ill. It'd be one thing if they cut vocational ed and counted the expense as savings, but just spending money cut from an anti-recidivism program to keep one more prison open shows there are unseen forces pressing the Lege to avoid closing even a single unit. In practice, money to keep open old, outdated prisons like the Central Unit (built in 1909 to provide labor for a now-long gone sugar plantation) come at the expense of programs that reduce future crime and long-term incarceration spending.

These changes do indicate to me that senators expect extra revenue, either from the Rainy Day Fund, new taxes (or fees, etc.), or both. We'll probably know more in the next week or two about how the politics of the Rainy Day Fund will play out in the House. And of course, the real budget doesn't get written until the conference committee at the end. These subcommittee recommendations are but yet another step on a long road to a final budget in the most trying fiscal year for the state in living memory. Still, the tradeoff decisions made early on in these venues risk being cemented among those who've made them and repeated over and over like a fractal - cut programming, don't close prisons. Those are the agency's priorities, but in a leadership vacuum where nobody (with power) but TDCJ is suggesting serious cuts (all to probation, treatment and programming), their recommendations and priorities will inevitably be the ones adopted.

MORE: A few tidbits from watching a bit of the hearing:

The committee invited DPS to come back and present to the subcommittee how much could be raised by jacking up a "large number of fees" the agency charges to drivers and others ... ugh! A tax by another name. This is how we got into the Driver Responsibility surcharge mess.

The subcommittee recommended restoring $40 million to juvenile probation and cut $23 million from youth prisons, including 26 cuts at the TYC Central Office.

LBB made a "technical adjustment" to reduce its estimate of how many employees TDCJ could afford to keep by 723 based on the funding levels in SB 1, potentially presaging more layoffs. OTOH, the subcommittee recommended reinstating the pay 7% pay raise given COs last session which the filed version of SB 1 would have eliminated.

Whitmire said he and Ogden were looking at reductions in the number of private prison beds including Mineral Wells instead of closing the Central Unit, and it "probably" would be closed eventually, but he wanted to keep it on the table heading into the conference committee. Whitmire called keeping the Central Unit open "a concession from me to Ogden."

Part of the reason for suggesting closing the Burnet treatment unit is as a bargaining chip to convince the county to lower its rate.  (Sen. Kel Seliger was a great spokesman for treatment and diversion programs.)

The subcommittee recommended restoring General Revenue funding for inspections of county jails by the Commission on Jail Standards, reacting to pushback by the counties over a plan to charge them fees for state inspections. (One suggestion was to let agencies use commissary profits to pay TCJS fees.) If the agency does not get enough GR funding they'll need new statutory authority to charge additional fees to fund their core operations.

Juvie probation chief, officers in Upshur fired, convicted of records tampering

In East Texas, two Upshur County juvenile probation officers and former juvenile probation chief Milton Wylie all pled guilty to misdemeanor charges of tampering with government records after they were caught forging documents required to be maintained by the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, including faked signatures of defendants and parents. They each received deferred adjudication probation. According to coverage from the Tyler Morning Telegraph ("Former juvenile probation officers receive probation for tampering charge," March 19):

the state alleged that going back to 2004, “state-mandated documents that were required for probation officers to document and fill out and maintain in their files were essentially not being done.”

[The District Attorney] said the state charged that when an auditor, or monitor, from the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission came to the county, “the two ladies would go back and forge and document the state contracts and state documents by signing parents' names, children's names, and essentially the whole document was forged.”

“The work just wasn't being done. Some of those documents were very important” because they helped determine “what treatment would be necessary for that child,” the district attorney said.

He said the misconduct went on over several years (2004 to 2008, according to the indictments).

Byrd had said in a news release last September that the indictments came after the Juvenile Board of Upshur County had asked him to contact the Texas Rangers to investigate the department.

“I believe that there was a member of the juvenile (probation) department that came to the board making various assertions and allegations — nothing specific, but there was enough said to the board that they felt that it would be appropriate” to call in the Rangers, he said Friday night.

“But for us asking the Rangers to do an overall investigation into the department, we probably wouldn't know to this day” documents were altered, Byrd said.

Though the actions of Upshur juvie probation department were reprehensible, it's good to see that the TJPC was somehow able to tell that something was amiss, and even better that the Upshur Juvenile Board took responsibility and called in the Rangers after questions were raised. So often, it's not the offense but the coverup that gets government workers into trouble. It's one thing to not do your job for years on end; for that you might get fired. It's quite another to begin forging documents in criminal cases en masse, forging the name of youth, paretnts, etc.. Given the scope of the offense, a misdemeanor and deferred adjudication is a slap on the wrist, indeed.

Is this going on elsewhere? I doubt it's widespread, but would also be surprised if this was an utterly isolated incident. In an ideal world, I'd like to see TJPC debrief the Texas Ranger investigators to identify the specific tactics, document trails, etc., that enabled them to discover the forgeries, then create protocols based on those investigative tactics to incorporate into routine records checks or agency audits. Going forward, they won't ever be able to say "We never imagined someone might do that," so they may as well put in front end checks and balances to keep such an embarrassment from happening again.

Coverage of juvenile-justice merger briefing

Yesterday's briefing on the proposed merger of the Texas Youth Commission and the Juvenile Probation Commission was adequately covered by the MSM, so I'll let others do the heavy lifting:

• Texas Tribune
• Dallas Morning News
• Austin Statesman
• Lone Star Report

Today's House Corrections Committee hearing, which will be streamed online here starting at 2 pm, will undoubtedly flesh all this out more detail when they hear Chairman Madden's HB 1915.

Briefing on TYC-TJPC merger Tuesday

Those looking forward to learning more about the proposed merger between the Texas Youth Commission and the Juvenile Probation Commission, here's the event for you, at least before we get to the big hearing on Wednesday. Via email press release:

Special media briefing tomorrow on TYC/Juvenile Justice Reform with Chairman Madden and Advocates
 
Who:
Rep. Jerry Madden (R-Plano), Chairman, House Corrections Committee; Deborah Fowler, Texas Appleseed; Marc Levin, Texas Public Policy Foundation
 
What & Why:
Media briefing to discuss pending juvenile justice reform, including Madden’s bill to consolidate the Texas Youth Commission and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (HB 1915). This measure appears to be a continuation of the Legislature’s TYC reform efforts of relying less on remote, ineffective facilities, and instead using more local, community-based corrections and treatment alternatives that have been shown to improve public safety, improve youth outcomes, and reduce costs.
 
This briefing is to prep reporters in advance of Wednesday’s House Corrections Committee which will hear Madden’s HB 1915 upon adjournment. Madden has indicated that this bill will change throughout the committee process as a result of feedback from others, and this briefing will address those and other issues.
 
Please note that this is an informal briefing, and participants will be available for extended questions and discussions with the media. Lunch will be provided.
 
Where:
Texas state capitol, 3W.9 (3^rd Floor Conference Room above the Speaker’s Office)

When:
March 8, 2011, 12:00 Noon or upon House adjournment, whichever is later.

I suspect the event will be available online via livestream. I'll post a link in an update to this post when it's available.

Bill to merge juvenile justice agencies up next week

Big hearing on Wednesday on the juvenile justice front: The House Corrections Committee will hear Chairman Jerry Madden's HB 1915, "Relating to abolishing the Texas Youth Commission and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission and transferring the powers and duties of those agencies to the newly created Texas Juvenile Justice Department and to the functions of the independent ombudsman for the Texas Youth Commission."

I've been focused elsewhere and have yet to read the lengthy bill, much less analyze in detail exactly what it would do. I'm not sure who has outside of those directly involved in its drafting - I've seen few if any journalistic nor bureaucratic analyses of the legislation so far. So I suspect we'll learn a lot at this hearing about the details of the proposal as well as the interests and criticisms of various stakeholders.

In related news, I should also mention that TYC has created a process for public input on which units it should close. According to a recent message to employees from TYC executive director Cherie Townsend:

At the direction of the TYC Board, the agency will begin a process during the next two months (March and April) of determining which facilities will be closed.  This process will be much like that used by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission when they close down federal military installations.  We will schedule community hearings in each location where we have a facility.   At that time, we will hear from employees and community leaders about the unique features of each facility, what the agency would lose by a closure at that location, how closure would impact the community and whether a specific community has the resources to support an increase in the number of youth and employees at a specific facility.

These meetings will probably take place on Saturdays, and I will be there with additional staff and at least one board member to hear the presentations.  For those unable to attend, we will establish other avenues for you to communicate your thoughts and concerns.  I anticipate that the TYC Board will then consider staff recommendations on which facilities to close at their June 2011 meeting.  The closures would be scheduled to take place no later than September 1, 2011.

Ironically, if HB 1915 passes the TYC board may not exist by their June 1 meeting, so I'm now sure how all that will be reconciled. In any event, these next few months will be another turbulent, uncertain period for state juvenile justice agencies. Wednesday's hearing will finally pull back the curtain on important discussions that until now for the most part have been happening entirely behind the scenes.

Bill filed to merge juvenile justice agencies

Reports the Statesman's Mike Ward:

A House bill filed this afternoon would abolish the Texas Youth Commission and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission and create a new agency to oversee most of the state’s youth corrections programs.

House Bill 1915 is the first merger bill filed this legislative session after such a move was recommended earlier by the Sunset Advisory Commission, as a way to streamline and improve juvenile justice in the state.

Supporters of the two agencies had earlier voiced hopes for a legislative compromise that could have allowed the two agencies to remain separate, although the filing appears to cast doubt on that plan, since the author and other House leaders have indicated they now support a merger.

Under the measure by House Corrections Committee Chairman Jerry Madden, R-Richardson, the two agencies would be merged into a new Juvenile Justice Department that would oversee programs from probation to incarceration.

Here's a link to bill text and other information.

I know a lot of folks have assumed that a "merger" would mean that TYC is essentially placed under the Juvenile Probation Commission, but this bill abolishes both governing structures and creates a completely new entity, new board, etc.. Of course, that could still be the net effect depending on who's appointed to the new board and Juvenile Justice Department leadership positions, but those may have been premature assumptions. The lengthy bill makes a lot of changes that I certainly haven't digested yet, and anyone interested in juvenile justice policy at any level will want to give it a read. If you do, be sure to let us know of any red flags you notice in the comments.

Juvenile Justice Roundup

Here are a few juvenile justice stories which caught my eye recently that may interest Grits readers:

Ex-TYC Auditor: Lack of policy allowed abuse
A Lubbock TV station has this interview with a former TYC auditor who discusses how cases like that of John Paul Hernandez, the former TYC administrator currently on trial in Lubbock for sex abuse, might have been prevented if, in the 1990s, the agency had followed recommendations to enact a policy regarding staff being alone with students behind closed doors.

Half of TYC facilities now accredited
After facilities in Gainesville and Mart recently passed muster, now five of TYC's ten secure facilities have been accredited by the American Correctional Association. They may be more than halfway to the finish line, however, since proposed budget cuts would spur closure of three secure TYC facilities.

JJAEP not used for 'persistent misbehavior' in Wichita Falls
Here's a story from Wichita Falls about their Juvenile Justice Alternative Education program, which included this notable tidbit: "Unlike many other JJAEPs in Texas, students who have been expelled for persistent misbehavior but are not on probation cannot attend the program in Wichita County." The local juvie probation director told the paper, "We only accept probation kids because we have the philosophy that we do not want to mix nondelinquents with delinquents." Good on them. IMO that's exactly the right approach for such programs, which are much-oversubscribed across the state. Creating further disincentive not to overuse JJAEPs, both the House and Senate proposed budgets for the next biennium would cut JJAEP funding from $79 to $59 per student per day.

Feds may alter juvie grants
Youth Today has an update on the Obama Administration's juvenile justice budget proposals, particularly regarding federal "Title II Formula Grants."  The administration has suggested eliminating "Juvenile Accountability Block Grants," rolling the money into Title II funding. In 2009, Texas received $5.1 million from this revenue stream, according to this report (pdf) from USDOJ. MORE: Via Sentencing Law and Policy, "the Crime Report has this effective entry, based on this official document, reviewing the criminal justice cuts in the proposed budget released today by President Obama's administration."

UPDATE/CORRECTION: The original version of this post referenced an article quoting a juvenile probation director commenting on the proposed TYC-TJPC merger, but he emailed me to say the article did "not represent me or my position on the issue accurately," so the reference has been removed.

Texas corrections budget at second glance

Following up on this morning's missive, I've had a chance now to skim the criminal justice portions of the budget (large pdf) proposed in the Texas House, and though I don't feel like I've completely wrapped my head around all I've seen there, I thought I'd identify a few high and lowlights that jumped out at me related to prisons, jails, and community supervision. (Here's a large pdf file comparing the last biennial budget to that proposed in HB 1 - see the Legislative Budget Board for more detail.)

Cuts to juvie probation
For starters, though the Sunset Commission recommended merging the Texas Youth Commission with the Juvenile Probation Commission and shifting more youth to community supervision, the base budget actually slashes funding for juvenile probation overall by 13.5%, with most of the cuts concentrated in funding for progressive sanctions and "community corrections services." The Youth Commission would close three facilities under the proposed budget, but shifting more youth to counties implies they'll need more resources to deal with them, not less.

Funding for Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Programs (for students with disciplinary problems in public schools) will be cut from $79 to $59 per day.

Treatment, diversion take big hits at TDCJ
The Department of Criminal Justice has been asked to cut nearly $700 million from adult corrections, almost all of it in community supervision programming: Basic probation funding would be cut nearly 25%, while funds for diversion programming would decline 21%. "Treatment Alternatives to Incarceration" took one of the biggest proportional hits, at a 90%+ reduction. Funding for special needs offenders would decline around 46%. Further, post-secondary and vocational training in prison as well as Project RIO, which is aimed at preparing ex-offenders for employment, would all be zeroed out under the proposed budget.

Overall, a great deal of  the 2007 probation programming credited nationally with reducing Texas' prison population is simply deleted from this first draft of the budget. For reasons frequently discussed on this blog, it's unwise and unworkable to make such deep cuts in probation without the prison population expanding significantly in the near term.

No more TDCJ pay hikes
Central administration at TDCJ will take an 11% cut, but the executive director and the chair of the Board of Pardons and Paroles will get to keep raises they received in 2010 (2.6% and 10%, respectively). Overall, TDCJ will see a pay freeze: "The Department of Criminal Justice shall not pay salary adjustments related to the career ladder in fiscal years 2012 and 2013. The individual rate of compensation for ... employees in the career ladder system shall not exceed the rate of compensation for that individual at the end of fiscal year 2011."

Untenable cuts to medical care
The budget proposes a more than 18% cut in medical care at frontline TDCJ units, despite the fact that the amount budgeted last biennium for health care was a whopping $61 million short of actual costs. Psychiatric care in prisons and pharmacy expenses would both be cut about 14%. In-prison substance abuse treatment would be slashed. Overall, medical costs per offender day in the budget would decline from $7.67 in 2011 to $5.84 in 2013 - a 24% decrease which will challenge the agency to a) provide constitutional levels of healthcare and b) maintain a price point that will keep UTMB providing services. They've threatened to cancel the contract if the state won't increase compensation for inmate healthcare.

A bizarre contradiction on parole
There's a flat-out bizarre element to the Board of Pardons and Paroles' budget given that HB1 would shutter the Central Unit and eliminate more than 1,500 private prison beds: Cuts to the parole board would cause the agency to process more than 6,000 fewer parole cases each year, which would immediately boost the prison population (unless front-end diversion programming, which is also slated for cuts, were expanded instead). Parole officer caseloads would shoot up from 62 per PO to 87, according to the proposed budget. Whoever wrote this section doesn't understand: It's simply not possible to let out fewer people each year, keep the same number coming in, and cut the overall number of prison beds. Something's got to give.

More backed up blue warrants
County sheriffs concerned about the expense from housing offenders held on "blue warrants" for alleged parole violations will be dismayed to learn of a proposed 15% cut in funds for processing parole revocations, a cut which will pass on extra incarceration expenses to counties.

Reduce inefficiencies in parole process
One new and welcome element in the budget is the requirement of a study to

evaluate and identify process inefficiencies related to parole review and offender release that is contingent upon successful completion of an assigned rehabilitation program. A report including the results of the study shall be submitted to the Legislative Budget Board and the Governor's Office not later than January 1, 2012. The report shall include recommendations and strategies to better align parole votes, program start dates, and offender releases.

Not later than December 1, 2012, the Board of Pardons and Paroles and the Department of Criminal Justice shall submit to the Legislative Budget Board and the Governor's Office an update to include actions, if any, implemented since the initial report. The update shall include savings associated with any actions taken to reduce delays in releasing paroled offenders who have completed an assigned rehabilitation program.

That said, in the context of the rest of the budget this strikes me as unrealistic. How can parole be made more "efficient" while fewer cases are processed for release, parole officer caseloads grow, and funds for revocation hearings are slashed? Even if they find efficiencies, there seemingly won't be enough warm bodies available to implement the recommendations.

Counties to pay jail inspectors
The Commission on Jail Standards will stop using general appropriation funds to inspect county jails and begin charging fees to counties to pay for the service.

RELATED: Corrections budget cuts concentrated in community supervision, set TDCJ up to fail

Sunset Commission: Merge TYC, juvie probation

I just received this press release announcing that the Sunset Commission has rejected the staff recommendation (pdf) and voted today to merge the Texas Youth Commission and the Juvenile Probation Commission:

Texas Appleseed and two national advocacy groups are praising today’s unanimous Sunset Advisory Commission vote to restructure the state’s juvenile system by abolishing the Texas Youth Commission and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission and creating a new entity.
 
“The Texas Sunset Commission took a visionary step forward in the ongoing reform of Texas’ juvenile justice system.  Today’s vote builds on the reform efforts begun in 2007 and 2009 and positions Texas to move toward a more cost-effective system by emphasizing effective, community-based treatment,” said Texas Appleseed Deputy Director Deborah Fowler. 
 
Pat Arthur, Senior Attorney, National Center for Youth Law, said, “Incarcerating youth in TYC facilities in remote parts of Texas exacerbates problems finding mental health professionals and teachers to serve these youth.  "Texas has an opportunity to create a national juvenile justice model that creates meaningful opportunities for appropriate treatment and rehabilitation of youth close to their homes."
 
Given that Texas’ is facing a $27 billion budget shortfall, streamlining the system can ensure that Texas juvenile justice system provides  the services youth need while reducing inefficiencies posed by a top-heavy system.  "This is just the right time to take the next big step in the reform of Texas' juvenile justice system,” said Robert Fleischner,  Assistant Director with the Center for Public Representation.
 
Representatives from these three advocacy groups have been working for several years to improve Texas’ juvenile justice system.  In August, they requested a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into accounts of unsafe conditions and serious education and mental health programming deficiencies in 10 secure lockdown facilities operated by the TYC.

MORE: From the Texas Tribune, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Austin Statesman, and the Lone Star Report.

UPDATE: From another press release on the subject via Texans Care for Children:

Groups’ “Principles of Juvenile Justice Reform”  Offer a Plan for Troubled Youth
As Sunset Commission recommends abolishing the Texas Youth Commission and Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, advocates unite behind recommendations for reform

Understand that restructuring the juvenile justice system is not, in itself, reform. Don’t incarcerate youth for minor crimes or send kids to adult prisons. And let more funds go to counties offering community services that keep kids out of confinement.

 

These are a few of the “Guiding Principles of Juvenile Justice Reform for Texas” that major advocacy groups asked state leaders to look to, as the Sunset Commission voted Wednesday to end the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (TJPC) and replace them with a new agency. Texans Care for Children, Advocacy, Inc., Texas Appleseed, the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, and Texas Network of Youth Services were among the groups signing on to the 12 principles, meant to guide reforms in the state’s juvenile justice system that started in 2007.

 

“As Texas plans for the future of juvenile justice, we need to focus on what works,” said Jodie Smith, policy director at Texans Care for Children, which convenes the Texas Juvenile Justice Roundtable. “The experience of other states and communities here in Texas is that the best way to rehabilitate youth and maintain public safety is to keep juvenile offenders close to home—either under community supervision or in small, home-like settings—where they can get schooling and the supports they need to get their lives on a positive path. Maintaining and improving youths’ access to effective, community-based services, which has been a growing focus in Texas since reforms began, needs to remain the way forward.”

 

The “Guiding Principles of Juvenile Justice Reform for Texas” are enclosed, and available here (pdf)

Senate Criminal Justice Committee: Highlights from interim recommendations

The Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee has posted its 115-page Interim Report (pdf) online, which is a written summation of recommendations in response to "interim charges" given to the committee by the Lt. Governor to prepare for major issues where legislation is anticipated. I haven't yet gone through the thing with a fine-tooth comb, but here's a preliminary taste of highlights from the recommendations:

Don't participate in new federal sex offender regimen
The committee recommended against Texas' participation in the federal Adam Walsh Act related to additional restrictions on sex offenders. Mostly the reason is money. The feds punish noncompliant states by reducing their "Byrne" criminal justice block grants by 10%, however, "Retaining the ten percent of federal funding is not adequate incentive because the cost to implement the changes to registries would cost much more than states would lose. In Texas the loss would be $1,404,571, where as the cost is assessed at $38,771,924."

Eliminate or scale back Driver Responsibility program; allow deferred for DWI
The committee declared the need to, "Eliminate or greatly reduce the Driver Responsibility Program surcharges as they relate to DWI convictions. The increasing number of drivers who are unlicensed and uninsured is unacceptable." They also want to eliminate Texas' prohibition on deferred adjudication for DWI.

Reduce causes for driver license revocations
Only maintain requirements for license revocation in Texas statutes required under federal law. Consolidate all those in one statute and eliminate the rest.

Compliance enforcement on indigence defense
A potential sleeper recommendation for the Task Force on Indigent Defense suggests that the state "Enhance TFID's ability to enforce compliance with the Fair Defense Act and track local indigent defense processes by improving data collection and transparency, including reporting on caseloads of appointed counsel and public defenders."

Require new reporting on municipal jails
The committee suggested requiring new reporting from municipal jails to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards which would be public, but did not go so far as to advocate putting them under full-blown TCJS regulation/inspection, etc..

Make crime labs independent
Here's a suggestion that won't happen quickly: "All crime labs should be independent of law enforcement, investigators and prosecutors. DPS should ensure that state crime labs are free from influence from other divisions of DPS."

Charge counties for DPS crime lab services
There's a suggestion that DPS begin charging law enforcement for crime lab services, which would be a big economic blow to smaller agencies: "Inequities exist with state crime labs services being provided free to only half of the citizens and no consideration given to the citizens who support these programs with local funds. State crime lab services should be on a fee recovery basis and legislature mandating such is supported." Presently, DPS provides crime lab services for free, but backlogs are large and most bigger jurisdictions have their own labs paid for by local taxpayers, creating the "inequity" described in the report. Making smaller counties pay for this service makes sense from an equity standpoint, but from their perspective it would be a big unfunded mandate.

Improve TCJS monitoring of mental illness in jails
The committee considered the issue of mentally ill people in jails, but settled on advocating additional reporting requirements through the Commission on Jail Standards. "Due to the limited authority the state has over local jails, the only possible enforcement and monitoring tool is through the TCJS standards. Requiring TCJS to incorporate compliance standards in their routine inspection practices will partially address this situation."

Downsize TYC, merge with juvie probation
The committee advocates that Texas "Continue to downsize TYC and its central office to the appropriate level required for their reduced population," and "Revisit the last session's sunset recommendation to consolidate all Juvenile Justice Agencies into a new Department of Juvenile Justice and reduce the apparent redundancies in the current organization structure." That latter recommendation flies in the face of the Sunset Commission recommendation to keep TYC and the Juvenile Probation Commission separate.

Reduce criminalization of school discipline
I'm a big fan of two of the changes recommended related to school discipline. First, they recommended the Lege "Amend Chapter 37 of the Education code by narrowing the definition for "Disruptive Activities", "Disruption of Classes", "Serious and Persistent Misbehavior" to eliminate non-criminal acts." They also suggested to "Amend Chapter 37 of the Education Code by changing the dangerous or disruptive violation to dangerous and disruptive, In order to insure students are not being removed for simple disruptions to class." Another notable suggestion: "Exempt 18-21 year olds from the truancy laws."

Whitmire: Merge TYC, juvie probation

In 2008, the Sunset Commission recommended merging the Texas Youth Commission with the Juvenile Probation Commission, but the 81st Texas Legislature chose not to do so. Now this year, the Sunset Commission recommended against a merger, but state Sen. John Whitmire and some advocacy groups at yesterday's hearing were still pushing the idea, reports Mike Ward at the Austin Statesman:

“There are just over 1,400 youths left — about the size of a middle school in Austin — and yet the budget is $250 million, the central office staff remains large, the recidivism is still high … the cost of caring for each youth is $120,000 a year — an amazing amount,” Whitmire said.

“There are much less expensive ways to more appropriately deal with these youths … in community settings where they can receive appropriate programs, not incarcerated out in the middle of nowhere.”

Two advocacy groups that two years ago had lobbied against a merger — the Texas Appleseed Project and Advocacy Inc. — today endorsed merging the Youth Commission into a new juvenile justice agency that could better treat and rehabilitate Texas’ most troubled youths.

Expressing exasperation about problems that continue to plague the Youth Commission, almost four years after the scandal broke to trigger sweeping reforms, Whitmire at one point told Cherie Townsend, the agency’s executive director, that change is coming.

“If you can’t see that, you should,” he said, claiming that legislative leaders who are in charge of writing the state’s new budget seem to agree with his position.

Given that the Legislature declined a merger last session and Sunset Commission staff recommended against it this time around, under normal circumstances I'd consider it unlikely the agencies would be merged next spring. But the yawning budget gap throws that calculus into question. From a pure process perspective one wouldn't suspect it, but when we get to the point next year when legislators are busting up the furniture for kindling, certainly anything is possible, and a merger would clearly be Sen. Whitmire's preference.

MORE: From Laura Burke at the Texas Observer.