Report: Scrap TYC, create joint juvenile justice agency

Top officials at incarceration, probation agencies say it isn't a good idea.

The embattled Texas Youth Commission should be abolished and its functions merged with the state's youth probation agency to oversee all juvenile justice programs, a new study recommended Wednesday.

The staff report by the Sunset Advisory Commission calls for the establishment of a Texas Juvenile Justice Commission led by an 11-member citizen board that would operate and coordinate all state probation and incarceration programs for youth offenders .

With the merger, taxpayers would save nearly $27.7 million a year starting in 2011, according to the report, which must be approved by the full commission before it's presented to the Legislature.

The report is expected to further fuel support to abolish the Youth Commission, a move proposed last summer by state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston — who on Wednesday quickly applauded the new findings.

Such a merger would be the most significant change in youth corrections in Texas since 1995, when punishment and rehabilitation options were drastically changed in a bid to lock up the most violent offenders and rehabilitate the rest.

The sunset panel is an advisory agency that studies the operations of state agencies and recommends changes.

According to the 133-page report, ongoing problems at the Youth Commission "pose a significant challenge to the effective operation of the system." The report states, "TYC continues to struggle to make mandated reforms of 2007. It needs to improve services to youth in institutions and on parole so that more youth receive better treatment in locations closer to home."

The Youth Commission operates 12 lockups and nine halfway houses. The agency closed one lockup last spring after its population was dropping. About 2,000 youths are in the institutions, down considerably from years past.

The Juvenile Probation Commission oversees and coordinates operations of county-run probation departments for youthful offenders.

By combining the two agencies, the report states, Texas' juvenile justice programs can be better coordinated and avoid expensive duplication.

Top agency officials oppose the idea.

"I don't think this is the best thing for the State of Texas or for the reforms that are ongoing," said Cherie Townsend, who last month became executive commissioner of the Youth Commission as it emerged from nearly 19 months of conservatorship after a sex abuse and cover-up scandal.

"TYC is undergoing massive reforms as an agency. Those reforms are not finalized. If we shift our focus from those reforms to more the management of the bureaucracy, that will not benefit the youth we serve," Townsend said.

Vicki Spriggs, executive director of the probation commission, agreed.

"This is a bad idea," she said. "We're a functioning agency that has exceeded all expectations. \u2026 TYC has a lot of problems that are being worked out. \u2026 If you put the two together, you could end up with a lot more problems."

Whitmire, who co-chairs a special legislative committee monitoring Youth Commission reforms, said they are wrong. "Anyone who wants to protect the status quo is going to have a very difficult time justifying their position now."

mward@statesman.com; 445-1712