Mar
8
Written by:
Mark Lavergne
3/8/2011 4:38 PM
Today House Corrections Chairman Jerry Madden (R-Richardson) and Senate Criminal Justice Chairman John Whitmire (D-Houston) held a press briefing on the Sunset bill that will, if it becomes law, merge the two major state agencies dealing with juvenile justice – the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission and the Texas Youth Commission. The bill would combine TYC and TJPC into a single Texas Juvenile Justice Department, which Madden said would be a smaller state agency, with less centralized administration in Austin and a more regionalized focus.
The idea is to continue the reforms initiated when SB 103, the omnibus TYC reform bill, was passed in 2007. Among its goals was to lower the incarcerated youth offender population at TYC and enhance community-based diversionary and rehabilitative services for youth offenders. TYC's prison facility population has shrunken considerably since that legislation was passed and today stands at about 1,400. Experts say that full-on incarceration has been shown more costly and less effective at lowering the chances of re-offense than diversions like probation and community supervision and rehabilitation.
The merger may shrink the population of youth incarcerated in prisons, but it will not zero out that population, Whitmire said. "Tough youth" will be closely confined and regulated he said. "We're not turning the youth loose," he said.
The House legislation, HB 1915, is up for a hearing in House Corrections tomorrow at 2 p.m. or upon adjournment of the House.
Madden emphasized that the bill is consistent with his and Whitmire's corrections priorities: public safety first, then improving services and effectiveness of the justice system, and saving money.
The changes to the juvenile justice system were originally recommended by Sunset staff in 2009, Whitmire recalled. That bill did not make it out of the House and TYC had to be safety-netted until it could be reviewed in a limited scope in 2011. Since it was a limited scope review, Sunset staff recommended continuing TYC and TJPC during the interim, but Whitmire resurrected Sunset staff's original 2009 recommendation to merge the agencies. The Sunset Advisory Commission approved the merger unanimously, 10-0.
Whitmire said today the juvenile justice system in Texas is a 1950s model, designed for when Texas was primarily a rural state. Now Texas is an urban state, he said, and troubled youth need to be kept close to their local courts, families, advisors etc. Whitmire emphasized the importance of keeping youth close to mental health professionals, something sorely lacking in the current TYC model.
Whitmire said that TYC no longer needs a large central office with lots of employees and large amounts of overhead.
A drawback to regionalization of juvenile justice in sessions past was that it would lead to the closure of existing TYC facilities located remotely in rural areas. Those facilities provided a source of jobs for the surrounding communities. This session the Legislative Budget Board has recommended closing three (yet to be named) TYC facilities. Whitmire and Madden are looking to allow counties to repurpose those structures into school district facilities, or military installations, or mothballing them in the event they could still be used for correctional purposes.
Whitmire said he was "very optimistic" that the legislation would pass this session. Madden shared his optimism.
Whitmire and Madden anticipate the merger could save the state over $100 million per biennium in juvenile justice costs.
Asked if these reforms have the support of leadership, Whitmire observed that the Sunset Advisory Commission, composed of Senators appointed by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, House members appointed by Speaker Joe Straus, voted unanimously in support of the merger.
Whitmire pointed to the success of 2009's Grant C program (the Community Corrections Diversion Program) in reducing costs and recidivism in the 143 counties that opted in. Grant C Programs reportedly cost $140 per day compared to TYC costs of nearly $359 per day.
The legislation will create a transition team and an oversight board that includes appointees from the Governor, Lt. Governor, and Speaker.
Madden told LSR that the merger does not reflect badly on the existing leadership at TYC and TJPC. The transition team will include TYC executive director Cherie Townsend and TJPC executive director Vicki Spriggs. Madden said that the new direction for juvenile justice in Texas is building off of successful reforms that first began in 2007.