DOJ documents excessive force, isolation, sexual abuse at Texas juvenile facilities
By Don Jacobson
Giddings State School in Giddings, Texas, is one of five Texas Juvenile Justice Department facilities found to have violated the constitutional rights of child prisoners in a Department of Justice report released Thursday. Photo by WhisperToMe/Wikimedia Commons
Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Texas penal officials are violating the constitutional rights of child prisoners and breaching several federal laws at the five juvenile justice centers they operate, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.
Following a "comprehensive investigation," Justice Department officials accused the Texas Juvenile Justice Department of "routinely" violating the constitutional rights of children in all five facilities by "exposing them to excessive force and prolonged isolation" and failing to protect them from sexual abuse.
The TJJD also failed to provide adequate mental health services for young detainees and has violated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act by not providing special education to children with disabilities, the DOJ alleged.
In addition, Texas officials have violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by not making "reasonable modifications" necessary to permit prisoners with disabilities to participate in programming required for release, federal investigators said.
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Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement the TJJD "engaged in a pattern of abuse, deprivation of essential services and disability-related discrimination that seriously harms children and undermines their rehabilitation."
Texas officials, she added, "have an obligation to keep these children safe, to teach them, to provide them necessary health services and to treat them fairly, without discrimination."
DOJ officials released a 73-page report detailing their findings from the probe of the five TJJD youth facilities across the state, including Evins Regional Juvenile Center, Gainesville State School, Giddings State School, McClennan County State Juvenile Correctional Facility, and Ron Jackson State Juvenile Correctional Complex.
Among its findings were that children spend "prolonged periods of time" in isolation, under "stark conditions" and without access to adequate mental health and educational services.
They also concluded children endure "sexual abuse by both staff and other children," causing "serious harm" and violating the U.S. Constitution.
TJJD also fails to provide adequate substance use disorder treatment and treatment for children who engage in self-harm or have suicidal thoughts, and found that TJJD's response to children's behavior "exposes children to excessive force and isolation."
"The conditions in the facilities are unacceptable," said U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas. "Our investigation found that children in these facilities face sexual abuse by staff and other children.
"Tragically, this is not the first investigation into allegations of sexual abuse at TJJD facilities. Since the early 2000s, other investigations by Texas state agencies and the Texas Rangers substantiated sexual abuse allegations of the children at TJJD facilities, yet this horrifying problem persists."
TJJD officials had not issued a response to the findings by Thursday afternoon.
The DOJ assessment comes two years after an investigation by the nonprofit Texas Tribune found that the five juvenile lockups were "dangerously understaffed" with turnover rate for detention officers hitting more than 70% in 2022.
The news outlet found that on weekends, youth are often locked alone in cramped cells with only a mounted bookshelf and a thin mattress on a concrete block for up to 23 hours a day. Nearly half of those locked in TJJD facilities were put on suicide watch in 2022, it reported.
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Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement the TJJD "engaged in a pattern of abuse, deprivation of essential services and disability-related discrimination that seriously harms children and undermines their rehabilitation."
Texas officials, she added, "have an obligation to keep these children safe, to teach them, to provide them necessary health services and to treat them fairly, without discrimination."
DOJ officials released a 73-page report detailing their findings from the probe of the five TJJD youth facilities across the state, including Evins Regional Juvenile Center, Gainesville State School, Giddings State School, McClennan County State Juvenile Correctional Facility, and Ron Jackson State Juvenile Correctional Complex.
Among its findings were that children spend "prolonged periods of time" in isolation, under "stark conditions" and without access to adequate mental health and educational services.
They also concluded children endure "sexual abuse by both staff and other children," causing "serious harm" and violating the U.S. Constitution.
TJJD also fails to provide adequate substance use disorder treatment and treatment for children who engage in self-harm or have suicidal thoughts, and found that TJJD's response to children's behavior "exposes children to excessive force and isolation."
"The conditions in the facilities are unacceptable," said U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas. "Our investigation found that children in these facilities face sexual abuse by staff and other children.
"Tragically, this is not the first investigation into allegations of sexual abuse at TJJD facilities. Since the early 2000s, other investigations by Texas state agencies and the Texas Rangers substantiated sexual abuse allegations of the children at TJJD facilities, yet this horrifying problem persists."
TJJD officials had not issued a response to the findings by Thursday afternoon.
The DOJ assessment comes two years after an investigation by the nonprofit Texas Tribune found that the five juvenile lockups were "dangerously understaffed" with turnover rate for detention officers hitting more than 70% in 2022.
The news outlet found that on weekends, youth are often locked alone in cramped cells with only a mounted bookshelf and a thin mattress on a concrete block for up to 23 hours a day. Nearly half of those locked in TJJD facilities were put on suicide watch in 2022, it reported.
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