Fixing the scandal-racked Texas Youth Commission could cost state taxpayers as much as $100 million during the next two years, an initial cost tally disclosed Wednesday. The figure is 20 percent of the agency's two-year budget of $500 million.

"We didn't expect it would be cheap to straighten this out, but it could have cost more," said Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire, D-Houston. "We have to do it."

The spending, proposed by lawmakers, would provide the first significant boost in funding for the agency in years, officials said. Funding has been cited as a contributing factor to the current allegations of wrongdoing at the agency. Officials said employees were not paid enough, that the growth of the agency's incarcerated population outpaced its budget and that rehabilitation programs were underfunded for years.

Included in the preliminary estimate:

•$50 million for additional Youth Commission funding for a series of reforms both under way and planned.

• $35 million for the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission for about 600 more community-based beds.

• At least $6.5 million for emergency costs such as additional video surveillance gear, fingerprinting all employees, new uniforms for incarcerated juveniles, severance for fired and resigned employees, and additional overtime pay.

• $8.7 million for recommended changes in health care delivery to Youth Commission lockups and halfway houses.

The initial figure, officials said, does not include the cost of changes being discussed to cut the agency's high employee turnover rate..

It also may not include overtime for state employees who have been involved during the past month in boosting security at Youth Commission lockups and halfway houses, investigating more than 1,800 complaints and providing crisis management assistance.

The mounting cost estimate was the focus Wednesday afternoon of a closed-door meeting of Senate and House leaders, Youth Commission officials and others. Whitmire, who chaired the meeting, said the estimate is subject to change in coming weeks..

"We should be able to fix the training issues, fix the staff ratios, complete the transfer of two facilities to (the adult prison system), make all the basic reforms," said House Corrections Committee Chairman Jerry Madden, R-Richardson.

Whitmire and Madden said that even with the increased funding, the agency will be much smaller. Instead of 4,600 incarcerated youths, it could have just 2,500 or 3,000. Community-based programs operated by the Juvenile Probation Commission and additional local programs mandated by Senate Bill 1295 will house the rest.

While the House budget approved earlier this week contains no money for those things, Whitmire and Madden said both houses are working together.

Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, a McAllen Democrat whose Senate Bill 103 contains most of the major reforms, said he is assured that the proposed spending will correct most of the agency's problems — at a price less than earlier predicted.

Initially, the price tag for his reform bill was pegged at more than $60 million. "With the changes we have made, $50 (million) will cover it, I think," he said.

mward@statesman.com

Costs of fixing Youth Commission

Emergency requests

Youth Commission requests for emergency purchases include:

• $2.8 million to lease an additional 250 beds in contract centers for up to four months.

• $1.2 million for overtime for agency employees.

• $903,472 to replace broken and inoperable surveillance equipment, and to buy additional gear to cover blind spots.

• $591,218 for data services.

• $446,587 for employee severance lump sum payments.

• $350,000 for a consultant study to review programs, youth classification and intake processes.

Source: Texas Youth Commission