Texas lawmakers scold juvenile justice department over scathing DOJ report

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Members of a Texas legislative panel sharply dressed down the state’s Juvenile Justice Department on Tuesday, accusing the agency of dismissing a 72-page federal report alleging widespread abuse and unconstitutional conditions at all five of Texas’ juvenile detention facilities.

Several members of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, its vice chair Gene Wu, D-Houston, among them, expressed frustration about juvenile prisons during its Tuesday hearing, where various state agency leaders discussed their responsibilities and challenges before committee members who are expected to begin considering bills next week.

Most agency heads answered a handful of questions. Leaders of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, however, were peppered for more than an hour after Wu brought up the August 2024 U.S. Department of Justice report that identified a “pervasive atmosphere of sexual abuse” in Texas’ youth prisons.

“You have left out the single biggest 900-pound gorilla in the room, and that is the DOJ report,” Wu said, calling the document a “scathing rebuke of the state.”

“I think one of the biggest problems is that the agency treats this report like it's nothing,” Wu added.

The report documented results of a federal investigation that began in October 2021 following allegations of unconstitutional conditions in the facilities, which house about 720 youth. The U.S. Department of Justice found that children in Texas’ juvenile prisons were subject to excessive force, sexual abuse and prolonged isolation. It documented excessive use of pepper spray, a “dysfunctional grievance system” and a lack of structured programming among other findings.

The report ended with more than 40 recommended changes and stated the DOJ could sue the state if it failed to implement them.

“Children in TJJD’s secure facilities are exposed to conditions that cause serious and lasting physical, mental, and emotional harm,” the report states. “At the same time, they are denied treatment and services they need to cope with their environment, earn release, return to their communities, and become productive citizens.”

Shandra Carter, executive director of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, told lawmakers that the agency is in “negotiations” with the U.S. Department of Justice and cannot disclose details.

Because those conversations involve sensitive legal matters, lawmakers seeking detailed information would need to request a private meeting with agency heads to confidentially discuss how the agency is addressing each of the recommendations, said Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso.

Since the report was released, agency officials have disputed its findings and attributed many of them to a staffing crisis that they say has improved since the U.S. Department of Justice began site visits in May 2022. At that time, juvenile detention facilities faced a staffing crisis so severe that youth were locked in their rooms for extended periods and staff could not take bathroom breaks.

Agency heads maintained they’ve made improvements Tuesday and focused their testimony on the violence perpetrated by youth offenders on agency staff, frustrating Wu and Rep. Jolanda Jones, D-Houston.

“It is very likely that when the DOJ were at our facilities and we did not have enough staff, there were concerns about access to the phone system and to the youth grievance system, both of which have been improved,” said Sean Grove, deputy director of the juvenile justice department and the point person on communication with the DOJ.

Grove also rejected the finding that any problems in youth facilities rise to the level of a constitutional violation. “That really is the crux of the disagreement,” Grove said.

“If people are giving you constructive criticism, maybe you should listen and not be defensive,” Jones responded.

Texas’ youth prison system has long been entrenched in scandals. The agency was placed under a conservatorship in the early 2000s following repeated allegations of physical and sexual abuse of children, as well as safety problems.

Addressing those problems has not been straightforward. During the last legislative session, lawmakers approved $200 million to build two new state-run prisons to hold 200 more youth. Meanwhile, some lawmakers have proposed closing the youth lockups altogether.

Tuesday was not the first time Wu has questioned the juvenile justice department about practices called out in the report. During a House Appropriations Committee hearing last week, Wu criticized the agency’s use of pepper spray.

“Tell me that we are no longer using crowd control mace on children,” Wu said, pointing to the finding that correctional staff are armed with canisters of pepper spray intended to manage large crowds.

Grove testified that the agency continues to use pepper spray but said they use a different type of canister to spray it.

Suggesting staff members use such methods to protect themselves, juvenile justice department officials said a “spike in acuity” of the youth under their jurisdiction has resulted in increased violence and aggression toward correction officers.

Sean McCleskey, independent ombudsman for the agency, said, for example, he saw a child punching a juvenile correctional officer in the back of the head while the officer was working on paperwork.

“A number of these assaults are unprovoked and the acuity of violence is disturbing,” said McClesky, who was appointed to his position by Gov. Greg Abbott.

But lawmakers questioned whether some of that violence was provoked by the conditions youth face in prisons.

“If somebody knocks me in my head a lot, and the grown ups won't protect me, eventually I'm going to knock them out,” Jones said. “Let's be clear, that's human behavior. If adults don't protect kids, kids are going to act out.”

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