Texas Juvenile Prison System Collapsing? State Lawmakers Urge Greg Abbott for Reform

Texas lawmakers are urging Governor Greg Abbott to fund the state's juvenile prison system amid its ongoing systemic crisis, in which more than 600 incarcerated children were detained in "cruel" living conditions.

The Texas Juvenile Justice Department is put under the microscope as federal investigations are now taking place because of allegations of battery and mistreatment.

Aside from this, the problems of recruitment and understaffing continue to plague the juvenile prison system in the state, with statistics indicating that it is nearing total collapse.

Texas Juvenile Prison System Nearing Collapse

According to The Texas Tribune, the Texas juvenile prison system needs extra funding to sustain its operations and overall maintenance.

House Democrats are urging Texas Governor Gregg Abbott to call for a special legislative meeting to address the need of the vulnerable institution.

In a letter sent on Monday, Texas State Representative James Talarico said waiting for the next session to take place before acting on the emergency would guarantee a death sentence for the incarcerated children.

Currently, the Texas juvenile prison system has been "dangerously understaffed," and the turnover rate for detention officers has already hit more than 70% since last year.

New hires are reportedly leaving within six months. The letter includes discussing the additional funding directed towards higher compensation for staff and addresses the root cause of staff turnover.

Texas Juvenile Justice Interim Director Shonda Carter said in a recent committee meeting that a further increase in compensation would be a necessary first step to address the department's chronic problems.

Texas Juvenile Prison System Cruel Living Conditions

Aside from the understaffed facilities and cases of battery and mistreatment, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department is also under investigation for its long history of sexual abuse.

According to James Talarico, he had received accounts from concerned parents in which their children were detained in one of the five lockups in the state.

Detained children were already using water bottles as makeshift toilets to urinate, while others were locked in windowless cells for 23 hours a day. There were also reports that most of the children locked up in these cells were placed on suicide watch.

According to El Paso Times, the state youth prison is not accepting any more children from already crowded county facilities in fear of not protecting the over 600 prisoners they could not even protect in the first place.

Abbott's spokesperson said last week that the governor will support the Texas Justice Juvenile department's plea to increase salaries next session.

However, the next session will only begin in January 2023, and budgetary decisions will only take effect in September 2023. It is well within Greg Abbott's power to call for a special legislative session to address the pressing emergency.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Ivan Korrs

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