TYC Roundup

[Joanne98]

http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2007/may/16/tyc-roundup/
Just a few quick links to some recent MSM coverage of the Texas Youth Commission:

* For those interested, my former boss from ACLU of Texas, Will Harrell, gave a brief interview this weekend published in the San Antonio Express News ("TYC ombudsman says his appointment sends strong message," 5-13) regarding his new job as ombudsman at the Texas Youth Commission. The New York Times even covered the appointment.

* Emily Ramshaw at the Dallas News reported this weekend that TYC officials who learned about the Pyote sex scandal allegations were more worried with avoiding media coverage than investigating abuse allegations ("Emails show TYC officials obsessing over image," 5-13).

* The Statesman's Bruce Hight thinks a more stringent dress code for TYC employees would help matters.

* The Brownsville Herald published this story about Eduardo Martinez, the recently named Evins Unit supervisor fired this week after less than two weeks at his new post.

* USA Today published a feature yesterday documenting 60 instances where TYC youth suffered broken bones at the hands of JCOs.
http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2007/may/16/tyc-roundup/

[Joanne98]

1. USA Today.. Injuries of teen inmates probed

By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-14-texas-inmate-abuse_N.htm
Texas authorities are investigating whether guards at state juvenile detention facilities broke the bones of 60 young offenders as a result of abusive tactics. The newly disclosed review comes amid spreading concerns about the treatment of teenage inmates.
The investigation is part of a criminal inquiry into the Texas Youth Commission, one of the nation's largest juvenile justice systems, with about 4,000 offenders. It was triggered by medical reports over five years showing inmates were treated for suspicious breaks, commonly the humerus, the long bone in the upper arm, according to Dr. Ben Raimer, who oversees commission health care services for the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Investigators suspect the arm injuries occurred when guards yanked offenders' arms upward while the limbs were shackled behind the youths' backs, said Jay Kimbrough, who has been appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to direct the state inquiry.

"There are enough of these injuries to cause us serious concern," Kimbrough said.

The review has grown out of a broader investigation of sexual abuse and physical assaults of inmates and other improper conduct by the staff.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-14-texas-inmate-abuse_N.htm

[Joanne98]

2. Killing the Messenger: TYC fires whistleblower

http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2007/may/14/killing-messenger-tyc-fires-whistleblower/
Some TYC employee commenters have already been discussing this, but I was sure sorry to see the news that Anthony Mikulastik, a case manager at the Marlin TYC unit and a regular Grits commenter, was terminated over a 35-year old felony. Perhaps not coincidentally, just days before the newspapers revealed he had been an early, ignored whistleblower in the Pyote sex scandal. Reported the Statesman (Second Youth Commission whistleblower terminated," May 11):

The dismissal of Anthony Mikulastik, a case manager at the Marlin Orientation and Assessment Unit, came just days after he publicly accused his onetime bosses of ignoring reports of sex abuse three years ago at the West Texas State School — a full year before they had claimed they first knew.

"Without a doubt, it's retaliation," he said in a phone interview. "I haven't had so much as a speeding ticket in years, since that conviction for burglary in 1972. I was 19 then. I'm 56 now."

Anthony's case shows why punishing people who had nothing to do with any scandal or allegations of wrongdoing makes little sense. There are enough real problems at TYC without creating scapegoats. The Dallas News had a good article yesterday, "A breakdown of authority," that outlined the structural problems and culture of denial TYC needs to be addressing instead. But you worsen those cultural problems by firing whistleblowers, whatever the pretext.

Not only do such firings cost the agency experienced people at a time when TYC staff is reeling, but it's unnecessary and looks like a coverup. TYC conservator Jay Kimbrough and his goon squad who instigated this firing binge don't have a single reason to think Mikulastik poses any danger to TYC youth - these terminations are just grandstanding for the media with no public policy benefit or improvement in safety of students.

In fact, when he starts firing the small handful of folks who stood up to wrongdoing and reported abuse when others ignored it, Kimbrough's mass firing of ex-felons probably makes TYC kids less safe.

TYC employees need a better union - this is BS. Good luck, Anthony, and give 'em hell at your administrative hearing.
http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2007/may/14/killing-messenger-tyc-fires-whistleblower/

[Joanne98]

3. House and Senate agree on TYC overhaul compromise

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/4810646.html
AUSTIN — The Texas Youth Commission would be led by a governor-appointed commissioner for the next two years under a compromise reached Wednesday by the House and Senate.

Although both chambers had approved bills to overhaul the scandal-plagued juvenile prison system, the only major hang-up was how to structure agency leadership. A vote on the compromise should come in the next few days.

House and Senate lawmakers agreed to go with the Senate's proposal to have a single commissioner placed over the agency until 2009, when it would revert to having a citizen board and executive director.

"We needed a (leader) who could take charge quickly and react rapidly in a changing environment," said Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, the McAllen Democrat who led the Senate negotiators
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/4810646.html