House passes TYC bill

Historic reforms designed to curb rape, abuse and mistreatment of incarcerated teenagers in the scandal-racked state Youth Commission were approved Monday night by the Texas House.

The vote was 138-0.

"We had a flawed, compartmentalized system that failed," said House Corrections Committee Chairman Jerry Madden, R-Richardson. "We are setting in motion reforms that will ultimately become a national model, that will correct the problems."

To ensure that future allegations of abuse and misconduct are fully investigated, the measure mandates new offices of inspector general and ombudsman in the agency. It toughens penalties for Youth Commission officials who have sex with youths.

To improve the safety of the youth lockups, the bill orders that younger offenders be separated from older ones, that all Youth Commission employees must pass a criminal background check, and that training and inmate-to-staff ratios are improved.

To make sure that the agency is more open to scrutiny, the proposal requires a new grievance system less subject to cover-ups, establishes a parents' bill of rights and provides more access for advocacy, support groups and auditors.

To reduce the number of offenders in state lockups so reforms can begin, youths convicted of misdemeanor crimes can no longer be sent to the Youth Commission — a change in current law that triggered much debate.

The House-passed bill is mostly the same as one approved earlier by the Senate, except for one significant change: The agency would be run by an executive director and a citizen governing board, instead of a commissioner and advisory board as Gov. Rick Perry had proposed.

An amendment to stick with the Perry plan was tabled 111-31, after sometimes-heated debate.

"The last thing we need is a single individual in charge," said Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston. "This agency failed because of a lack of oversight, not because it had too much oversight."

Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, a former prosecutor, proposed that judges should be allowed the discretion of sentencing habitual offenders — those previously found guilty of a felony crime — to continue to be sent to the Youth Commission.

"They should have the option of removing someone from the community who should be removed," Phillips said of the provision that judges and prosecutors have lobbied intensely for in recent days.

But Madden and other supporters of the bill argued that the Youth Commission is the last place for misdemeanants.

"No expert thinks this is a good idea," said Rep. René Oliveira, D-Brownsville.

Phillips' amendment was tabled 76-64.

The changes are likely the most significant since the Legislature reformed Texas' juvenile justice system in 1949 after another scandal, when rehabilitation and sweeping operational changes were put into law — including some now being sought in the wake of the latest scandal.

The current measure was prompted by news reports in February that two administrators at the West Texas State School had never been prosecuted, even though a Texas Rangers investigation detailed sex-abuse allegations against them two years earlier.

Subsequent disclosures revealed that the agency officials had engaged in an apparent cover-up of many allegations, approved the hiring of convicted felons even as background checks weren't conducted on prospective employees, and let officials dismiss grievances and allegations against themselves.

In early March, fed-up legislative leaders declared the agency grossly mismanaged, and Perry eventually ordered a forced management takeover. More than 50 employees have since been forced out, including nearly a dozen top administrators.

Seven separate criminal investigations are continuing. Thirteen employees and youths face criminal charges, including Ray Brookins and John Paul Hernandez, the two West Texas administrators.

"We are structuring a system that will not allow the problems of the past to occur again," said Rep. Delwin Jones, R-Lubbock, a member of the special legislative committee that investigated the scandal.

mward@statesman.com

Texas Youth Commission overhaul:

Highlights of House Bill 2807

•Allows an executive director to run the agency, answerable to a new citizen board.

•Reduces number of youths who are held in Youth Commission facilities by eliminating those over age 19 and those convicted of misdemeanor crimes.

•Puts into place tougher penalties for staff who sexually assault or abuse youth.

•Establishes an independent ombudsman to protect rights of incarcerated youths.

•Creates an independent office of inspector general to investigate complaints of abuse and neglect.

•Allows a special prosecutions unit to bring to court offenses committed by incarcerated youths and guards.

•Improves training of correctional officers and staff-to-inmate ratios.

•Requires older and younger youths to be kept separated.

•Requires background checks of all employees.

•Allows advocacy and support groups access to youths to monitor conditions inside Youth Commission units.

•Establishes a new Parents Bill of Rights guaranteeing access to information.

•Requires improved health services.

Source: House Corrections Committee