Advocates Respond to Harrowing Findings from DOJ Investigation into Texas Juvenile Justice Department
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 2, 2024
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Advocates Respond to Harrowing Findings from DOJ Investigation into Texas Juvenile Justice Department
Investigation finds TJJD routinely violates children’s constitutional rights, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act
Austin, TX – The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) released findings on August 1st, 2024 from their investigation into the Texas Juvenile Justice Department’s (TJJD) five child prisons. The findings include violations of children’s rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The investigation uncovered abuse that includes but is not limited to: sexual abuse from staff and from child to child, excessive use of solitary confinement and restraint (chemical and physical), discrimination against children with disabilities, failure to provide adequate education or accommodations and much more (see the report here).
The facilities investigated include Evins Regional Juvenile Center, Gainesville State School, Giddings State School, McClennan County State Juvenile Correctional Facility, and Ron Jackson State Juvenile Correctional Complex. The investigation was launched after Texas Appleseed and Disability Rights Texas filed a complaint on the issue in 2020.
“The findings of this investigation are not only disgusting but a slap to the face of Texans who want to believe our state supports our most vulnerable populations. As a former foster youth that was also involved in the Texas juvenile justice system, it is a miracle and an act of God that what was done in the dark has finally come to light,” said Valentino Valdez, a formerly incarcerated youth who organizes with Finish the 5. “We will not be able to fix our shortcomings if we do not acknowledge them and this proves just that.”
“We are outraged at the findings of this investigation,” said Karen Muñoz, Justice Catalyst Fellow at LatinoJustice PRLDEF. “After years of waiting for federal attention to the ongoing crisis in Texas’ youth prisons, this investigation finally sheds light on the horror children as young as 10-years-old are subjected to. We call on our lawmakers to work to decriminalize children, offer them the care and support they need and close the prisons down once and for all.”
TJJD currently incarcerates 740 children between the ages of 10 and 16 in the five child prisons investigated in this report, and is currently working with the Texas Legislature on plans to build two new youth prisons. Hundreds more children are incarcerated at the county-level in child jails, awaiting transfer to state facilities or being detained on lower-level accusations. Those were not included in the scope of this investigation.
“This report highlights the absurdity of Texas’ approach to youth behavioral issues. In response to criminalized behaviors and violence, our state sends children to sites of extraordinary
criminality and violence with the alleged goal of rehabilitation and preparing them for adulthood. In a just world, the public’s investment in an ineffective system causing grave harm to hundreds of children and the families and communities who love them would stop immediately.” said Chris Harris of the Austin Justice Coalition.
In the last Texas legislative session, the Finish the 5 Coalition released its demand for a staggered closure of the five prisons and investments in community-based alternatives to incarceration and supported HB 4356 to do this. Despite hours of testimony in favor of the bill from people across Texas, the bill was tabled in the Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee.
“The urgency to find alternatives to locking children up and subjecting them to violence and terror should permeate the heart of every lawmaker,” said Alycia Castillo, Associate Director of Policy at Texas Civil Rights Project and Co-Founder of Finish the 5. “The report highlights thousands of cases of abuse that have for far too long gone unnoticed by everyone except those close enough to the children to know.”
"These findings confirm what advocates in Texas have long recognized about the egregious and inhumane treatment of children in TJJD custody. However, the violations noted in the DOJ report regarding children with disabilities are particularly deplorable." said Jolene Sanders, Advocacy Director, Coalition of Texans with Disabilities.
“This is a call to action for our lawmakers to decriminalize youth, provide necessary care and support, and permanently close these harmful facilities. The report starkly illustrates the flaws in our current approach to youth justice”, said Shelly Baker, Political Director of Deeds Not Words. “Continuing to invest in this system not only fails to address the root issues but also causes significant harm to young people and their communities. We must shift our focus towards creating a system that prioritizes the well-being and rehabilitation of our youth.”
“For years, advocates and parents throughout the state have been ringing the alarm on the injustices children are subjected to while in TJJD custody,” said Krupali Kumar, Founder of the Austin Liberation Youth Movement and Co-Founder of Finish The 5. “We cannot allow this to continue. Every new facility that is built enables this kind of behavior to continue. It is time for Texas to stop criminalizing children.”
“This investigation brought to light the level of abuse children in custody face on a daily basis - it is shameful and appalling,” said Sarah Reyes, Youth Justice Policy Director at the Texas Center for Justice and Equity. “Children deserve to feel safe and cared for, but this report shows that as long as they continue to be placed in TJJD facilities, they won’t be.”
“This report reminds us that children should be able to grow up in the safety and security of their homes, not the horror and violence of a TJJD facility. It's about time the truth is out behind what's going on in those cages,” said Annette Price, Executive Director of Grassroots Leadership.
“This report is a clear sign of how badly our juvenile justice system is failing. Unfortunately, this is something we, as a community of formerly incarcerated adults and kids, have known for a long time. It’s unacceptable. It’s abhorrent,” Marci Marie Simmons, Community Outreach Coordinator for Lioness JIWA.
“State-sanctioned violence, neglect, and abuse have no place in the care of our children, and this report makes it abundantly clear that we cannot trust a system rooted in such brutality to reform itself. The time to close these facilities is now.” Jennifer Toon, Community Advocacy Manager, Texas after Violence Project and formerly incarcerated youth.
“The DOJ confirms what the community, parents, youth justice advocates, and most importantly, youth, have been saying for decades. It was not a question of if the violations and mistreatment of incarcerated children was happening, it was, and will always be, we know this is happening; what is going to be done about it?” Jade Miller, Senior Policy Project Associate at Collective Action for Youth. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Youth deserve justice, that is the bottom line. While there is necessary consequences for committing a ‘crime’ as a young person, sexual assault, lack of care, isolation, amongst other violations of their rights shouldn’t be one of them.”
“TJJD has failed Texas youth, having prioritized incarceration over education. No one deserves to grow up in conditions revealed by the DOJ’s investigation, which has permanently instilled into the youth a traumatic experience, blinding them from envisioning a future of endless possibility and opportunity. It’s time we leave youth prisons behind and reinvest in the future of our state’s youth. Instead, let's fix the root causes – lack of resources in communities,” said Emeriek D. Moreno, San Antonio Organizer at Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT).
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LatinoJustice PRLDEF works to create a more just society by using and challenging the rule of law to secure transformative, equitable and accessible justice, by empowering our community and by fostering leadership through advocacy and education. For over 50 years, LatinoJustice PRLDEF has acted as an advocate against injustices throughout the country. To learn more about LatinoJustice, visit www.LatinoJustice.org