Too little, too late
March 18, 2007
Governor's proposal for new administrator inadequate to deal with spreading Texas Youth Commission scandal.
Written by the Editorial Board, Houston Chronicle
The public outrage over sexual and physical abuse of teenagers by Texas Youth Commission employees at an isolated West Texas facility got more fuel last week.
New allegations of near-anarchic conditions at a second TYC reform school in South Texas drew a warning from the U.S. Justice Department that the constitutional rights of young inmates were being violated. If lack of supervision that has allowed beatings of some students by other prisoners and use of unjustified force by guards is not remedied within 49 days, the department's Civil Rights Division has the option of suing the state to force compliance.
From the beginning the response to reports of wrongdoing in the TYC school system by responsible authorities has ranged from nonexistent to grudging. First, TYC officials ignored complaints from staff and penalized the whistle-blowers, and then shelved damning reports by the Texas Ranger and internal investigators confirming criminal behavior. Gov. Rick Perry's staff learned of the allegations three months ago, but did nothing until media reports brought the scandal to the attention of legislators.
Perry supported the removal of the TYC chairman but advocated that a replacement be elevated from the existing board, which would remain in place. After members of both houses of the Legislature demanded a new board, Perry acceded, but only after the board's lame ducks voted on a rehabilitation plan for the agency before vacating their positions. The governor now proposes that the oversight board be dissolved and replaced by a single commissioner reporting directly to him.
That's not good enough. Perry had plenty of opportunity to take a decisive leadership role in exposing the TYC mess and offering a plan to clean it up. Instead, he has provoked divisive fights over HPV vaccine and coal plant permitting executive orders. In his latest exercise in political tone-deafness, the governor embarked on a Middle East business junket funded by corporate dollars from special interests pushing pending bills in the current legislative session in Austin.
The Texas Youth Commission needs strengthened legislative oversight and a board made up of strong, independent trustees to monitor the care and rehabilitation of troubled Texas teens sent to its facilities.
The governor's previous appointees failed miserably to carry out that responsibility. There's no reason to believe a commissioner handpicked by the governor would be anything other than a continuation of the previous flawed system.
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