Inspections reflect desperation and danger in Texas juvenile prisons

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Every month, impartial investigators go to the 5 juvenile prisons in Texas to judge how every is doing its job, and whether or not the youngsters in their care are being effectively handled.

The continuing chaos within the agency, which worsened after a surge of workers give up following the pandemic, has led to youngsters being locked in their cells for many of the day. The pattern has coincided with a spike in suicidal conduct and total misery amongst detained youths.

The Texas Tribune reviewed six months of those website go to reviews by the Independent Ombudsman for the Texas Juvenile Justice System, spanning November 2021 to April 2022.

Between the strains of dense bureaucratese that typify such reviews could be discovered the tales of particular person youngsters whose actions depict the desperation, violence and lack of supervision that plague the state amenities.

Below are notable excerpts from these audits, with reported responses from TJJD officers and Texas Tribune annotations.

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