Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission is recommending that the state essentially shutter its juvenile justice system and start over from scratch. Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Legislature would do well to heed that advice.

The Sunset panel took a close look at the progress made since the Texas Youth Commission, which runs the state's prisons for youth felons, was embroiled in controversy over allegations that staff members had been sexually abusing inmates and TYC leaders had been covering up the problem. The review determined that the TYC and its sister agency, the Juvenile Probation Commission, had made inadequate progress on changes ordered by the Legislature in 2007.

With Texas' status as a world leader in prison population, how the justice system deals with youthful offenders is one of the key factors in getting a handle on crime and on curbing the strain that rising prison costs put on the state's budget.

Beyond the financial argument, however, is this: As a state that espouses family values, we simply need to do the right thing for the juveniles who enter the justice system.

First of all, doing the right thing involves humane treatment. That means taking steps to assure the safety of juvenile inmates, protecting them from staff and their fellow inmates. It also means heeding the recommendations of the Legislature, including the location of facilities in areas where there is adequate access to doctors, psychiatrists and other professionals. (The TYC has not tapped into the $25 million in bonds that the Legislature approved for new facilities.)

Doing the right thing also involves a commitment to programs that help youths change their ways. In 2007, less than half of the 284 youths classified as needing sexual behavior treatment were enrolled in such programs and just half of those enrolled completed the program. According to the sunset panel, in the most recent fiscal year the TYC spent just 61 percent of its specialized treatment budget.

Statistics such as those should help explain why records show that more than 40 percent of the Texas youths released by TYC will be back behind bars within three years of their release. The sunset panel says the agency has failed to meet the Legislature's mandate that it improve its programs to prepare youths for re-entry into society.

Finally, the sunset review says that the TYC and the juvenile probation commission are not coordinating their efforts to improve the overall youth justice system.

That's why the report recommends the separate agencies be closed and a new Texas Juvenile Justice Department be established.

If the Legislature heeds the advice, the new department should be given a mandate to treat youthful offenders properly and give them the care, the guidance and the leadership that could help more of them choose a more productive path.

Failing to do so will cost Texas in many ways, from the wasted lives of youths to the high cost of running one of the largest prison systems in the world as troubled youths reach adulthood.