Youth jail system failing probationers, report says

Report says transition plans and supervision are inadequate.

One 17-year-old Austin boy, a confirmed gang member, was freed on parole in March from a Texas Youth Commission prison, even though he had been involved in a riot. He was advised to avoid wearing red. After he was caught smoking marijuana a month later, his official punishment was to write a two-page report on "thinking errors."

Another youth, whose drug problem was noted when he was first locked up, never got counseling. When the 18-year-old was paroled in March, he was ineligible for state-paid treatment. Instead, his parole officer ordered him to spend four hours of "quality time" with his mother.

Harry Cabluck/ASSOCIATED PRESS (enlarge photo) The Texas Capitol (enlarge photo)

An 18-year-old Austin youth was freed on parole two weeks early, before his parents were notified to pick him up. The teen was put on a bus home — and promptly arrested at a South Texas immigration checkpoint because he had no identification.

For those who think the Texas Youth Commission scandal is mainly about allegations of sex abuse behind closed doors in its remote lockups, investigators for a legislative committee overseeing an inquiry into the Youth Commission suggest there also are serious problems with the agency's parole system. State law prohibits disclosing the names of those in Texas Youth Commission lockups.

An internal report cites evidence that dozens, possibly hundreds, of youths have been released without proper supervision and without basic programs that had been recommended to try to keep them out of trouble.

"We have a huge problem in juvenile parole — one more problem at this agency," said House Corrections Committee Chairman Jerry Madden, a Richardson Republican who is co-chairman of a special legislative committee investigating the Youth Commission scandal. "What this report says to me is that if kids succeed when they get out, it's probably by chance, not because the system is working to help them."

Since the Youth Commission scandal erupted three months ago, the agency has undergone a Legislature-ordered downsizing in the number of youths who are locked up, from 4,700 in March to 3,299 this week.

More than 400 youths were released during a two-week period in April, prompting complaints from judges and prosecutors that too many were being released too soon without appropriate programs or supervision. Youth Commission officials at the time said all proper steps were being taken to ensure public safety.

According to the internal report, investigators learned that so-called transition plans were not properly completed or followed up on, that some youths couldn't enroll in drug treatment programs after they left prison because they had been unable to get into prison-based treatment, and that there was no continuity of care for youths in programs after they left prison. In some cases, paperwork was incomplete or missing.

"There was little or no documentation or follow-up . . . to ensure compliance with parole requirements," the report states.

In several cases, the investigators found, youths with a history of being irresponsible were expected to set up appointments themselves after they left prison, and parole officers never checked to see whether they did.

A total of 12 cases were reviewed at the Youth Commission's Austin parole office as part of the inquiry — a review that came after investigators were "initially refused access to review files by TYC central office staff," the report notes.

Problems were found with all 12 cases. Although it is a small number compared with the 3,600 youths on parole in Texas, the report was bolstered with other information that authorities say is beginning to surface as investigations of the agency continue. Madden said he is confident "this is a representative sample of much greater problems we need to address."

Not surprisingly, two of the 12 youths were back in jail within weeks of their release. Another acknowledged that he was smoking marijuana up to eight times a day but was not sanctioned.

Youth Commission spokesman Jim Hurley said agency officials have not yet seen the report, but a major makeover of the parole system already is under review.

"There certainly have been shortcomings in a lot of areas," he said, noting that too little funding contributed to the problems. "We're building toward a revamp of the parole system . . . from the ground up."

Austin-area police and prosecutors said they had not seen the report but were not surprised by the problems cited.

"Shame on the Legislature for not listening to people who were telling them this was a problem," Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley said. "The best solution is for the Legislature to go home and let the administrators sort out the best solution to these problems."

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle said a successful parole system is a key to keeping youths from committing new crimes.

"This isn't rocket science," he said. "If you don't properly supervise them and don't provide the appropriate programs, it borders on the absurd to think that they'll do anything but get in trouble again."

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A look at youths and employees at the agency before and after the sex abuse scandal broke.

Statistic Jan. 1 This week

Youths in state lockups 4,008 3,299

Youths in state halfway houses 224 217

Youths in contract centers 443 388

Youths on parole 2,911 3,158

Employees on agency payroll 4,887 4,715

Number of parole officers 142 137

Source: Texas Youth Commission

Life after the Texas Youth Commission

A report on the parole system details a dozen examples of problems, including:

•A 17-year-old Austin boy, released from a Youth Commission lockup in March after serving 20 months for carrying a weapon, was identified as a gang member. 'His parole officer addressed this issue by advising the youth to avoid wearing red,' the report states.

When the teenager tested positive for marijuana use just a month after his release, the officer ordered him 'to write a two-page report on thinking errors.' No referral to a drug treatment program was found.

•One 18-year-old was freed from a South Texas lockup in early March, two weeks early, before he had time to have his parents pick him up. He was put on a bus to Austin, where his parents live, but was arrested at an immigration checkpoint in Falfurrias for having no identification.

'The parents contacted TYC and were told that the youth was 18 and TYC was not required to notify them,' the report states. Federal officials have filed to deport the teenager to Honduras, his parents' home country.

•An 18-year-old was diagnosed while in prison as needing drug treatment. Within weeks of his release, his Austin family reported he was doing drugs again and 'the youth admitted using marijuana up to eight times per day.'

Even so, 'there was no documentation in the file of an alternate or more intensive treatment program referral by the parole officer,' according to the report.

•A 17-year-old from Austin, paroled in March after serving a year for robbery, was supposed to undergo six months of drug treatment but never entered a program because he spoke little or no English and there was a waiting list for Spanish-speaking counselors.

He was arrested April 23 for marijuana possession, files show.