JUVENILE JUSTICE

I N T E X A S
WHERE WEVE BEEN,
WHERE WERE HEADED
In many places throughout Texas, youth
crime rates are falling, troubled kids are
increasingly likely to turn their lives around, and
fewer children are locked up in facilities national
experts have called no place for kids.
1
All of
this happened not by accident, but because in
the last ve years, the state of Texas, led by the
state legislature and a wide-ranging coalition of
stakeholders, has drastically retooled its approach
to juvenile justice.
Since 2007, eight state-run, secure facilities
closed, while two others merged. Meanwhile,
the number of youth in Texass secure juvenile
facilities fell dramaticallyby roughly 70

percent
2
and
those who were
entering lock-ups
spent less time
there.
3
Today, only
juvenile
oenders who
have committed
felonies are held in
state-run, secure
facilities. Beyond
lower absolute numbers, the reforms have had
other positive eects: Both recidivism among
children involved in the juvenile justice system
and juvenile crime statistics statewide have
decreased.
4
Various improvements in the school setting
and in the court system have contributed to
statewide system improvements, but the most
visible transformation has been within the main
JUVENILE JUSTICE AT A CROSSROADS
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agencies charged with juvenile justice.
In December, 2011, the creation of the new
Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) put
the responsibility for administering juvenile
justice under a single agency tasked with
partnering with the states 254 county probation
departments to rehabilitate kids close to home
whenever possible. Among other things, the
law that created TJJD charged the agency with
working to ensure that:
Fewer kids who come into contact with the juvenile
justice system are incarcerated, either in state- or
county-run facilities;
Children who remain at home enter proven
programs designed to help them avoid further
delinquency;
Children who are incarcerated at the county level
are held close to home; and
Children who must be sent to state-run facilities
have the best possible chance of rehabilitation.
ese improvements show Texas is capable
of making sweeping change within a complex
system, while maintaining a focus on keeping
communities safe and rehabilitating oending
youth. Texas remains a state far more likely to
involve children in the correctional system than
is necessary. Still, improvements over the last ve
years demonstrate the potential to continue to
reduce unsafe conditions for youth in state care
and create the community outcomes we all want
to see.
Broadly speaking, the reforms of the last few years have sought to ensure smaller populations, fewer abuses and
better treatment at lock-ups; to give children and teens fair hearings, sentences and representation in court; and to
increase the focus on community-based treatment rather than state-administered incarceration.
LEGISLATIVE REFORMS, YEAR BY YEAR
Addressing abuse in state-
run lock-ups through
omnibus reform, SB 103
Added 220 hours of training
requirements for ocers working
in secure juvenile facilities
Lowered stan-to-youth ratios
Established Omce of Inspector
General and Omce of Independent
Ombudsman to increase oversight
Created a new advisory board, and
modied the leadership structure
to ensure greater accountability
2
0
0
7
Moving toward community-
based treatment models, SB1
Created additional grant programs
to provide incentives to keep youth
in their community
Bettering conditions in
lock-ups, HB 3689
Improved mental health services
Support for reading programs for
TYC students
2
0
0
9
Piloting of community-
based treatment models,
HB 35
Extended community coordination
pilot project for children at risk
of placement in child welfare or
juvenile justice systems
Enhancing accountability,
SB 501
Created interagency council to
address racial, ethnic and regional
disparities across state agencies that
serve children
Bettering conditions and
lowering populations in
lock-ups
Segregated children by age and
crime
Stipulated that felony onenders
would be committed to TYC
facilities; kids charged with
misdemeanors would be
rehabilitated in less restrictive
settings
Stipulated that youth 19 and older
would age out of TYC facilities,
either through parole or placement
in the adult system
Moving toward community-
based treatment models
Increased use of community-based
alternatives; called for creation
of county-based programs for
misdemeanor oenders in large
counties
Improved transition planning for
kids reentering their communities
Moving toward appropriate
sentencing, remediation and
representation
Established a pilot program as an
alternative to incarceration for
nonviolent young oenders, SB
1374
Mandated specinc training for
judges on juvenile misdemeanor
cases, HB 1793
Sought to increase fair
representation for juveniles and
reduce the number of juveniles
sent to adult court, SB 518
Enhancing accountability
for improved outcomes,
SB 58
Laid groundwork for development
of the statewide juvenile justice
case management system
Moving toward appropriate
sentencing and remediation,
SB 1208
Made determinate sentence youth
(typically teens charged with
serious felonies) eligible to stay on
probation to age19
Streamlining administration
and moving toward
community-based
alternatives, SB 653
Abolished the TYC and the Texas
Juvenile Probation Commission;
created the Texas Juvenile Justice
Department
Further codined mechanisms to
address juvenile infractions through
community-based alternatives
Laid out goals for smaller state-run
lock-up facilities to better promote
youth rehabilitation
Charged the new agency with
delinquency prevention and early
intervention
Created additional grant programs
to provide incentives to keep youth
in their community 2
0
1
1
AN OVERVIEW: FIVE YEARS OF REFORM
In the 1990s, the percentage of juvenile onenders
in Texas skyrocketed. Harsh punishment became
the order of the day as media-generated fears of
youthful super-predators and newly introduced
zero-tolerance policies toward juvenile crime led to
an increase in the number of kids landing in remote
lock-ups.
By late 2006, at the peak of this explosive growth
when about 4,800 kids were in far-ung, state-run
lock-ups scattered across the state, with even more
consigned to secure county-operated facilities
scandal hit.
5
Multiple instances of children being
sexually and physically abused at the hands of state
facility staers came to light. Spurred by the scandal,
state legislators from across the political spectrum
worked together to pass an omnibus reform bill
that sought not only to curb abuse, but to limit the
numbers of kids who were locked up. e addition
of an independent ombudsman and inspector
general increased oversight of sta and established an
eective process for lodging and rapidly investigating
allegations of abuse.
Bills passed in the 2009 and 2011 legislative sessions
built on and extended the reforms: supporting reading
programs and helping incarcerated youth prepare for
reentry into day-to-day life back in their communities.
e 2009 legislature provided additional funding and
created additional grant programs which provided
incentives for counties to, whenever appropriate, route
children through local programs rather than remote,
state-run facilities. Increased funding to keep youth in
their communities was yet another step toward major
reform.
Other legislation in 2009 focused on improving
mental health services for youth in the juvenile
justice system. In 2010, the Texas Youth Commission
reported that 42 percent of its population had high
or moderate need for mental health treatment, while
almost three-quarters of the population needed alcohol
or drug treatment.
6
e 2009 legislation put supports
in place to ensure both continuity of care for youth in
the system and the availability of community-based,
mental-health treatment options for mentally impaired
youth released from secure state facilities.
e major reform bill of 2011 merged the two
state agencies responsible for overseeing juvenile
justice-the Texas Youth Commission and the Texas
Juvenile Probation Commission-into a single unined
agency, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD).
e goal was to create an organization capable of
1. No Place for Kids: e Case for Reducing Juvenile
Incarceration," e Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2011.
2. Legislative Budget Board, Current Correctional
Population Indicators; Adult and Juvenile Correctional
Populations Monthly Report." Accessed May 2012.
THE ROAD AHEAD
e transition to a new system of governance
brings us to a critical watershed. ose of us
concerned about the welfare of Texas children
and those of us who take seriously the idea that
juvenile oenders have the capacity to change
must spend the coming months working to ensure
that the legislative and administrative reforms of
the last years continue to translate into on-the-
ground changes for the tens of thousands of Texas
children and teens
referred to the
juvenile justice
system annually.
We must remain
vigilant to ensure
that children who
remain in their
communities receive
the consistently
high-quality
treatment needed to
help them achieve
better outcomes.
And as recent
reports of increased violence and abuse in state-
run, secure facilities indicate,we must also stay
focused on the goal of ensuring that the higher-
need teens in those facilities are not only safe, but
get the help and education they need to grow into
productive adults.
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tackling the juvenile justice problem at every level and
ensuring that children at every stage of involvement
with the juvenile justice system are provided with a
full continuum of eective rehabilitative services.
To that end, the TJJD is tasked with:
Dropout prevention to ensure fewer kids enter the
system to begin with;
Eective partnership with counties to provide proven
home-and community-based programs that decrease
delinquency; and
Creation of smaller facilities, which have been shown
to promote rehabilitation more eectively than
warehouse-like lockups, for kids who do enter the
secure state-run system.
e challenge in the coming months will be
to balance sweeping organizational change with
a commitment to the rehabilitation of oending
youth, a continued reduction in unsafe conditions
for teens in state care, a commitment to keeping
communities safe, and adequate support for and
oversight of county-based interventions and care in
both home-based and secure environments.
3. TYC Population Trends," Texas Youth Commission.
4. e State of Juvenile Probation Activity in Texas,
Calendar Years 2009 & 2010. http://www.tjjd.texas.gov/
publications/reports/RPTSTAT2010.pdf;
Legislative Budget Board, Statewide Criminal Justice
Recidivism and Revocation Rates." http://www.lbb.state.
tx.us/PubSafety_CrimJustice/3_Reports/Recidivism_
Report_2011.pdf
5. TYC Population Trends," Texas Youth Commission.
6. Who are TJJD Onenders?" Texas Juvenile Justice
Department. http://www.tjjd.texas.gov/research/
youth_stats.aspx.
SOURCES
Broadly speaking, the reforms of the last few years have sought to ensure smaller populations, fewer abuses and
better treatment at lock-ups; to give children and teens fair hearings, sentences and representation in court; and to
increase the focus on community-based treatment rather than state-administered incarceration.
LEGISLATIVE REFORMS, YEAR BY YEAR
Addressing abuse in state-
run lock-ups through
omnibus reform, SB 103
Added 220 hours of training
requirements for ocers working
in secure juvenile facilities
Lowered stan-to-youth ratios
Established Omce of Inspector
General and Omce of Independent
Ombudsman to increase oversight
Created a new advisory board, and
modied the leadership structure
to ensure greater accountability
2
0
0
7
Moving toward community-
based treatment models, SB1
Created additional grant programs
to provide incentives to keep youth
in their community
Bettering conditions in
lock-ups, HB 3689
Improved mental health services
Support for reading programs for
TYC students
2
0
0
9
Piloting of community-
based treatment models,
HB 35
Extended community coordination
pilot project for children at risk
of placement in child welfare or
juvenile justice systems
Enhancing accountability,
SB 501
Created interagency council to
address racial, ethnic and regional
disparities across state agencies that
serve children
Bettering conditions and
lowering populations in
lock-ups
Segregated children by age and
crime
Stipulated that felony onenders
would be committed to TYC
facilities; kids charged with
misdemeanors would be
rehabilitated in less restrictive
settings
Stipulated that youth 19 and older
would age out of TYC facilities,
either through parole or placement
in the adult system
Moving toward community-
based treatment models
Increased use of community-based
alternatives; called for creation
of county-based programs for
misdemeanor oenders in large
counties
Improved transition planning for
kids reentering their communities
Moving toward appropriate
sentencing, remediation and
representation
Established a pilot program as an
alternative to incarceration for
nonviolent young oenders, SB
1374
Mandated specinc training for
judges on juvenile misdemeanor
cases, HB 1793
Sought to increase fair
representation for juveniles and
reduce the number of juveniles
sent to adult court, SB 518
Enhancing accountability
for improved outcomes,
SB 58
Laid groundwork for development
of the statewide juvenile justice
case management system
Moving toward appropriate
sentencing and remediation,
SB 1208
Made determinate sentence youth
(typically teens charged with
serious felonies) eligible to stay on
probation to age19
Streamlining administration
and moving toward
community-based
alternatives, SB 653
Abolished the TYC and the Texas
Juvenile Probation Commission;
created the Texas Juvenile Justice
Department
Further codined mechanisms to
address juvenile infractions through
community-based alternatives
Laid out goals for smaller state-run
lock-up facilities to better promote
youth rehabilitation
Charged the new agency with
delinquency prevention and early
intervention
Created additional grant programs
to provide incentives to keep youth
in their community 2
0
1
1
ISSUES TO WATCH
As the new agency puts these mandates into practice, we are at a
critical point. The bill that created TJJD includes strong language
to guide meaningful reforms. But ensuring that that vision becomes
a reality for Texas kids, requires that we hold TJJD accountable for
effective oversight of and support for a county-based system that
truly reduces the need for children and teens to be placed away from
their homes and families. Moreover, because new policies reducing the
numbers of residents at secure, state-run facilities have led to high
concentrations of youth with high needs, TJJD and lawmakers must be
both purposeful and vigilant in ensuring that secure facilities are not
plagued by violence. Texas must also:
1. Create a state budget that adequately supports
community-based programming;
2. Ensure consistent, high-quality rehabilitative and diversional
programming across all juvenile probation departments statewide;
3. Implement effective performance measures at the county-level to
evaluate, compare and improve program effectiveness; and
4. Ensure adequate funding at the county level for proven,
non-residential rehabilitative programs such as anger management,
mental health, and drug and alcohol counseling programs.
The majority of these changes will roll out over time, meaning
communities and individuals alike must demand transparency in the
process wherever possible to ensure we have a juvenile justice system
that works. Otherwise, we risk having even our reformed system revert
to old ways of doing business.
Photography courtesy of Richard Ross, http://juvenile-in-justice.com
811 Trinity, Suite A, Austin, TX 78701
(512) 473-2274
http://txchildren.org