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| Just under $100K / yr spent to lock up Juveniles in TX |
| By Mike Ward - AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF |
| Published: 03/04/2009 |
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Austin, Tx - Even though the Texas Youth Commission's incarcerated population has dropped by almost half in two years, the annual cost of locking up juvenile offenders in Texas has climbed to almost $99,000 per inmate — a 66 percent jump since 2006. With a tight state budget and a tough economy, legislative leaders say that is too costly, and they are moving to cut spending at the commission. It is the latest controversy for an agency that has weathered several in the past two years, including a sexual-abuse and cover-up scandal and the revelation that it paid a contractor for hundreds of empty beds. "It's ridiculous," said state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee and an author of the 2007 reforms that were prompted by the abuse scandal. "They've got twice as many correctional officers as they need. ... They've got a big, expensive central office staff they don't need. ... And they're just trying to protect their turf and bureaucracy." Commission officials say they have cut staff and are working with lawmakers. "I have done a lot of tightening and have reconfigured what kind of facilities we're operating," Youth Commission Executive Commissioner Cherie Townsend said Tuesday. "I don't know how much more can be reduced ... unless we decide to deliver the services differently." The cost increases were contained in a report by the Legislative Budget Board that tracked the incarceration costs in both the juvenile and adult corrections systems in Texas. In its budget requestfor the upcoming two-year period, the Youth Commission sought funding for more than 4,000 employees while estimating that its lockups would hold about 2,300 offenders. As part of its reforms, the Legislature mandated a staffing ratio of one guard for every 12 incarcerated youths. In February 2008, the agency had about 4,100 employees and about 2,400 incarcerated youths. At some lockups, that meant there were about twice the number of employees as youths, according to Youth Commission figures. In 2007, the agency had about 4,600 employees and about 4,100 incarcerated youths. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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