“A way to throw kids away”: Texas’ troubled juvenile justice department is sending more children to adult prisons (Texas Tribune)

“A way to throw kids away”: Texas’ troubled juvenile justice department is sending more children to adult prisons – By Jolie McCullough (Texas Tribune) / April 28, 2023

Moving the most violent and troubled youths to adult prison makes it easier to help others in juvenile facilities, some prosecutors and lawmakers say. Youth justice advocates say Texas is giving up on the children who most need help.

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Desperate to restore order within the walls of the five youth prisons it operates, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department has been asking judges to push more of its most troubled kids into the adult prison system.

Last year, a depleted workforce left children locked in cells up to 23 hours a day, using water bottles and lunch trays as toilets. Self-harm behavior skyrocketed among the almost 600 youths held in TJJD facilities, nearly half of whom spent some time on suicide watch. The agency has since scrambled to recruit and retain more officers.

One approach to alleviating the chaos has been to shift more youth out of the ever-in-crisis juvenile prison system into the adult one. Lawmakers and prosecutors have promoted the idea to rid TJJD of its most disruptive and violent detainees.

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