How the state protects children

There has been much news in Dallas about sexual abuse in the state’s juvenile homes. In February, The Dallas Morning News reported:

Many prison staffers at the West Texas State School complained about the abuse to their immediate bosses and to officials in Austin, the reports say. But, for more than a year, no one in charge did anything to stop it. Evidence was ignored or covered up. Two years after a Texas Rangers investigation concluded, no one has been prosecuted.

Some former employees say similar problems afflict many prisons run by the Texas Youth Commission, whose official mission is to “fix broken children.”

If “fixing broken children” means raping them, I guess West Texas State School has been very successful. There were many reports of abuse that were covered up or ignored. In fact, some abusers were promoted to even higher positions of authority after they were found abusing children.

When caseworker, Bill Hollis, voiced concerns about the amount of time and nature of late night visits between school staff and students, he was ridiculed.

Bill Hollis was a caseworker at a state juvenile prison in West Texas, and he had suspicions. He believed the prison’s No. 2 official spent far too much time behind closed doors, late at night, with young male inmates.

“It just didn’t feel right,” he said.

So Mr. Hollis wrote a letter of complaint to the executive director of the Texas Youth Commission in Austin, the state agency that runs the West Texas State School. The reaction from agency management was quick and tough –against Mr. Hollis.

“I was told I was not doing my job properly,” he said last week. “I was told I was not supporting the administration. I was told I was the problem.”

On March 2nd, West Texas State School found some company. The DMN reported on abuse and cover-ups at Ron Jackson State Juvenile Correctional Facility.

As state officials move quickly to sweep TYC’s management clean – a result of the West Texas sexual abuse and subsequent cover-up – the scope of the scandal is expanding. On the floor of the state Senate this week, McAllen Democrat Juan Hinojosa briefly offered Brownwood as proof that the West Texas affair “is not an isolated incident.”

LaQuetta Day, a former correctional officer at the Brownwood unit, agrees.

“The Texas Youth Commission is a haven for child molesters,” she said. “These kids have been raped their whole lives. Shouldn’t this be the one place they’re safe?”

A TYC investigation determined that a guard at Brownwood repeatedly gave drugs and candy to least three girls, one as young as 15, in exchange for sex.

Today it is reported that the TYC sex allegations exceed 750 and they are not limited to the two prison/ schools originally targeted.

Juvenile inmates have filed more than 750 complaints of sexual misconduct against correctional officers and other TYC employees since January 2000, according to a compilation provided to The News.

The complaints range from the relatively benign – such as flirting or suggestive letters – to rape. They come from all 13 TYC prisons.

TYC officials who originally investigated the allegations said they were able to substantiate only 88 of them. They acknowledge, however, that the actual count of legitimate complaints is far higher.

I haven’t any direct experience with TYC, but have to assume that the children sent to live in the facilities were troubled before they were sent there. A quick trip to the department’s website confirms that idea, though invites other questions.

Most arrive without a determined sentence. TYC administrative policy dictates the youth’s length of stay, and offenders can remain in TYC custody until they turn 21.

And:

89% were boys.

11% were girls.

44% were Hispanic.

34% were African-American.

22% were Anglo.

34% admitted at intake that they are gang members.

Median age at commitment was 16.

Median reading achievement level was 6th grade (four years behind their peers).

Median math achievement level was 5th grade (five years behind their peers).

40% were identified as eligible for special education services.

7% of the TYC population were English language learners.

83% had IQs below the mean score of 100.

46% were chemically dependent.

41% had serious mental health problems.

76% had parents who never married or who divorced or separated.

36% had a documented history of being abused or neglected.

60% came from low-income homes.

74% came from chaotic environments.

52% had families with histories of criminal behavior.

12% had family members with mental impairments.

48% were in juvenile court on two or more felony-level offenses before being committed to TYC.

The state essentially “fixes broken children” by locking them up, with abusers, for an indeterminable amount of time. These kids are the ones that nobody listens to and we wonder why the schools are a haven for child molesters? I am thankful that The Dallas Morning News has covered this issue so extensively. Perhaps the exposure of abuses will get people talking about the fact that the state cannot protect children. If they can’t protect them when they are in state custody, they certainly can’t protect them in our own homes.

Latest news: Today, a registered sex offender was fired by TYC. The employee worked as a guard at a juvenile justice center in Coke County. (In fairness, the employee’s sex offender status was due to a juvenile offense and the details are not known.)

~ by Miche on March 7, 2007.