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| TX - Youth prison making progress |
| By brownsvilleherald.com |
| Published: 05/11/2009 |
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Youth prison making progress By Jeremy Roebuck, The Monitor EDINBURG - The Evins Regional Juvenile Facility has made substantial strides in the past year toward implementing a series of court-mandated reforms aimed at protecting inmates' civil rights. But a recent audit of the youth prison still found cause for concern over the safety of teens housed there and the amount of time it took to investigate claims of abuse. Drugs and inmate-on-inmate extortion still pose significant problems for the facility, and some staff members expressed unease with a program they say places too much emphasis on rewarding teen convicts, according to a report the U.S. Justice Department filed April 29 in federal court. However, the underlying problems that first drew federal investigators to the juvenile detention center three years ago are being addressed, department inspectors said. "The state has made notable progress in achieving compliance," their analysis states. "But significant work remains." A spokesman for the Texas Youth Commission - the agency charged with oversight of Evins and the state's nine other youth prisons - called the findings a positive status update and said the facility continues to look for ways to improve safety for both inmates and employees. "We really are of the same mind as the DOJ on this," said Jim Hurley, director of public affairs. "The levels they want us to achieve are not our ultimate goals. They're our baselines." PROGRESS Evins came under scrutiny in 2006 after a series of riots and reports of excessive force prompted Justice Department investigators to conclude conditions there violated the civil rights of inmates and failed to adequately protect them from harm. Youth reported incidents in which guards bound them, threw them face-down into flower gardens, used their bodies as battering rams to open doors and hit them against concrete poles. The federal government sued the facility, the TYC and the state last year and drafted a reform plan aimed at improving living conditions for inmates. Since then, the Justice Department auditors found, Evins has taken a number of positive steps toward meeting those goals, including: >> Shifting to an incentive-based policy to ensure good behavior among its teens. >> Providing more training to employees. >> Installing 900 video cameras across the facility to document staff and inmate behavior. >> Phasing out barracks-style housing, which many juvenile justice experts say contributes to the escalation of violence in youth detention centers. "These changes represent a major philosophical shift for the campus," the April 29 audit states. NEW CONCERNS But new problems have emerged. On a trip to Evins in March, the auditors were routinely told by inmates and staff that extortion and contraband had become growing problems for the facility. Visitors to the youth prison smuggle in money, drugs and banned foods that later work their way into the general population. "One youth reported that drugs are brought into the facility as frequently as every few days," the audit report states. Those items later become valued targets for bullies who take food, toiletries, clothing, phone cards and other items from younger, more vulnerable inmates. The problem has grown so bad that some inmates have asked to be housed in an isolated security unit for fear of falling victim to their peers, investigators found. Several Evins employees also complained of a new rewards-based program called "Connections" aimed at promoting good behavior among inmates. Granting perks such as access to video game consoles or special clothing to well-behaved teens without also providing stern punishment to inmates who act up has created a program that does "not hold residents accountable for their actions," they said. But Justice Department auditors found other facets of the "Connections" program disturbing. "Youth routinely told us that that one reward they may receive for compliant behavior is deodorant," they said. "Our review of Evins' privilege grid confirms that basic toiletries are being offered as rewards." TYC administrators maintained that all inmates housed at Evins have access to essential toiletries and that only designer brands are handed out as incentives. ‘WE'RE NOT THERE YET' The audit's most troubling finding, however, is that investigations into alleged abuse at the facility are still taking too long to complete, said state Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, whose district includes the Evins detention center. TYC's failure to take quick action on claims of physical and sexual abuse at all of its facilities - including Evins - prompted a statewide overhaul of the youth prison system in 2007. Two years later, auditors found a backlog of 85 investigations at Evins that had been pending for more than a month.Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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