Youth advocacy groups are calling on the US Department of Justice to investigate allegations of continued abuse and neglect at Texas youth detention facilities. KUT's Mose Buchele checks in on reforms mandated more than two years ago at the Texas Youth Commission.
August 26, 2010 · Four groups, two of them based in Texas, have sent a letter to the DOJ, claiming that abuse and neglect continue at TYC facilities. Their allegations came after visits to facilities made this summer.
Fowler: “Until we visited the facilities we felt comfortable working hand in hand with the agency to try to address those problems, but at the point that we’re meeting children that have been harmed, we felt like we needed to take a little more decisive action.”
Deborah Fowler is the legal director for Texas Appleseed, one of the groups that sent the letter. She says inmates reported a lack of access to education, inadequate medical and mental health care, and high numbers of inmate-on-inmate violence. Fowler said she also heard of guards using inappropriate restraints on inmates. She added the cases of physical and sexual abuse by guards that marked a major overhaul of the Texas Youth Commission in 2007 appeared to have subsided.
Fowler: “But part of the job of the adults that run these facilities is to keep youth safe not just from staff but from each other.”
Hurley: “We actually have video cameras in all of our facilities, we can go back and look at the date and times and see what occurred.”
Jim Hurley is a spokesperson for the Texas Youth Commission. He says TYC has shown improvement in the care it provides; citing a 61 percent reduction in assaults involving bodily injuries in the past year. He says the Commission will investigate the claims and continue to work in partnership with the advocacy groups and allow them access to its jails.
Hurley: “We were disappointed though that it did sort of take this route.”
But Texas Appleseed’s Fowler says the DOJ has better resources and expertise to reform Teas youth lock-ups. The Department of Justice has said it is reviewing the complaints.
|
