Independent Ombudsman for the Texas Juvenile Justice Department First Quarter Report FY 16 September 1, 2015 to November 30, 2015 Introduction: This report is the first Quarterly Report of FY 2016 to be submitted by this office under statute and is intended for the Executive Director of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD), the Governor, Lt. Governor, Speaker of the House, members of the Texas Legislature, and the Auditor for the State of Texas. This report will serve to provide a description of the activities of the office during the first quarter of FY 16 spanning September 2015 through November 2015. Overview of the Work of the Independent Ombudsman The Independent Ombudsman (IO) was established for the purpose of investigating, evaluating, and securing the rights of the children committed to the Juvenile Justice Department, including a child released under supervision before final discharge. Senate Bill 1630, passed during the 84th Legislative Session, expanded those duties to include county post-adjudication facilities and contract facilities where county post-adjudicated youth are placed. To fulfill the duties of the office, IO staff regularly visit all TJJD secure facilities, halfway houses, parole offices, all county post-adjudication facilities and TJJD and county contract care programs. The IO also tracks Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation (ANE) incidents from all pre/post adjudication county facilities. The office successfully visited and inspected all secure TJJD facilities, as well as halfway houses, state contract care facilities and parole offices to monitor for compliance with best practices for the safety and security of the youth. In addition, all ANE incident reports from county facilities have been reviewed and tracked for trends. During the first quarter all additional ombudsman were hired, trained, and assigned their regions of the state. The IO began introductory visits to county post-adjudication facilities and contract facilities, by the end of the quarter eight county facilities had been visited and seven contract facilities had been visited. The IO will continue doing introductory visits and begin regular site visits during the next quarter. In October, the IO issued a report in response to a disturbance at the Giddings State School and a trend of disturbances occurring at other facilities within TJJD. The purpose of the report was to identify areas of concern and to make recommendations to protect the youth and staff at each of these facilities. In the report, the IO identified the following as contributing factors: • The agency’s inability to attract and retain key staff • Changes to the Phoenix Program causing it to be less effective • Ineffective control over youth and failure to issue proper consequences • Lack of Central Office support and responsiveness In response to the IO’s report, TJJD prepared a Management Action Plan (MAP) to address youth and staff safety in the agency’s secure facilities. Both the IO’s report and TJJD’s MAP are attached to this report. Accounting of Site Visits, Youth Contact and Individual Cases FY15 1st Quarter FY16 FY16 Total Site Visits 207 45 45 Number of Youth Interviewed 1305 606 606 Number of Youth Interviews Conducted 3004 823 823 Closed Cases 106 9 9 TJJD facilities visited by IO staff during the first quarter Secure Facilities Evins Regional Juvenile Center-Edinburg TX Gainesville State School-Gainesville TX Giddings State School-Giddings TX McLennan County State Juvenile Correctional Facility-Mart TX McLennan Residential Treatment Center-Mart TX Ron Jackson State Juvenile Correctional Complex -Brownwood TX TJJD Halfway Houses Ayres House-San Antonio TX Brownwood Halfway House-Brownwood TX Cottrell House-Dallas TX Edna Tamayo House-Harlingen TX McFadden Ranch-Roanoke TX Schaeffer House-El Paso TX Willoughby House-Fort Worth TX York House-Corpus Christi TX Contract Care Facilities Amikids, dba Rio Grande Valley-Los Fresnos TX Byrds Therapeutic Group Home-Houston TX G4S Youth Services, LLC-Brownwood Garza County Regional Juvenile Center-Post TX Gulf Coast Trades Center-New Waverly TX Pegasus School RTC-Lockhart TX Specialized Alternatives for Youth (SAFY)-Arlington TX North Texas State Hospital-Vernon TX County Post Adjudicated Facilities visited by IO staff during the first quarter County Operated Robert N. Barnes, Nueces County, Corpus Christi Jerry J Esmond, Galveston County, Dickinson Brazoria County RTF, Brazoria County, Angleton Bill Logue JJC, McLennan County, Waco Meurer Inter. Sanction Ctr, Travis County, Austin Leadership Academy, Harris County, Katy Hays County JDC, Hays County, San Marcos Trinity and Triad Programs, Williamson County, Waco Contract Care Facilities for post adjudicated Pegasus School, Lockhart Methodist Home Boys Ranch, Waco Brookhaven Youth Ranch, West Shoreline, Taft Everyday Life RTC, Bryan Gulf Coast Trade Ctr., Waverly Rockdale Regional JJC, Rockdale Anyone may file a complaint with the IO. Complaints can be made via telephone, mail, fax, email, or in person during a facility inspection. The IO received 14 complaints during the first quarter. The majority of these cases were received directly from the youth during facility inspections. First Quarter-FY 16 Source of Complaints 14% Youth During Facility Inspection 14% Family Member 50% OIO Staff Initiated Youth Telephone Call/Letter 22% Complaints Received by Facility-First Quarter FY 16* * Facilities without complaints are not listed The IO closed 9 cases in the first quarter. Cases are closed in one of four ways: Founded, Unfounded, Investigated-unable to determine, and Valid-not within IO scope. Closed Cases First Quarter FY 16 Valid-not within OIO scope Investigated-not able to determine Unfounded Founded 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 Education Medical* Rule or Policy Safety Concerns Specialized Staff Conduct Treatment * Note: The Independent Ombudsman generally does not make findings regarding the quality or appropriateness of the care delivered. Unless otherwise noted, the medical cases in this report involve only issues of access to health care services. In addition to the cases that are investigated by IO staff, the office also receives numerous inquiries and complaints that are referred to the appropriate authority. The IO received 167 inquiries and referrals during the first quarter. Inquiries and Referrals First Quarter FY16 14 Inquiry 34 Referral to Facility Staff 25 Referral to TJJD Grievance System 94 Referral to TJJD Inspector General The IO reviewed 90 ANE reports in the first quarter. Reports of Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation from County Operated Facilities* First Quarter FY 15 1 Attempted Suicide 9 1 1 2 2 Emotional Abuse 5 15 Escape Exploitation Neglect Physical Abuse Sexual Abuse Verbal Abuse 54 Youth on Youth Physical Assault *These reports are reviewed by the IO, but there is no investigation or determination of findings made by the office. The IO tracks these incidents for indications of systemic issues and trends. ndependent I mbudsman Ofor the Texas Juvenile Justice Department October 2, 2015 Giddings State School Final Report This report is in response to the recent disturbance at the Giddings State School and a trend of disturbances occurring at other facilities within the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD). The purpose is to further identify areas of concern and to make recommendations to protect the youth and staff at each of these facilities. Aggressive disturbances are not a new problem at the agency. In the last two months there have been eight disturbances involving seven to 40 youth in each of the five facilities. Often times in these disturbances youth and/or staff are injured accidentally or by assaultive behavior. In this recent incident there were a total of 4 youth and several staff injured. One youth was injured severely and will require surgery to repair his fractured orbital socket. The aggressive population tends to be more dangerous and present a security threat to detention facilities (other youth, staff, and themselves). Moreover, they are counterproductive to all programming and safety precautions that are created to help rehabilitate youth in detention. The OIO does not endorse severe punitive measures as a way to deal with most juvenile behaviors. However, in situations where the protection and safety of all youth and staff on a campus are at risk due to the negative and sometimes dangerous actions of a few, measures have to be taken to ensure all are safe. Contributing factor: The agency’s inability to attract and retain key staff - Giddings State School has several vacant psychologists’ positions, including a Clinical Director, positions that are key factors in the disturbance. Lacking these vital positions played a key factor in the disturbance. The facility has reportedly been short several psychologists for 4-5 months. Ten of the approximate 40 youth involved in the disturbance were eligible to be transitioned to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) or to parole but had not been evaluated by a psychologist, which is required before their case can be heard by a Judge. Lacking these evaluations prolongs their stay at TJJD by months. Another contributing factor is the shortage of Case Managers (CM); at the time of the 11209 Metric Blvd, Bldg H∙ Austin, Texas 78758 (512)490-7973 ∙ (512)490-7626 fax Human Resources Code, Sec. 261.002. " The office of independent ombudsman is a state agency established for the purpose of investigating, evaluating, and securing the rights of the children committed to the department, including a child released under supervision before final discharge." disturbance Giddings had seven open positions. The purpose of a CM is to work closely with a youth on his or her Individual Case Plan to manage behavior. Absent CMs, a youth’s behavior can spiral out of control. The CM may also be the first person to learn of an impending problem between youth. Another key position that has been vacant for months is the Institutional Placement Coordinator. This position plays a pivotal role in the movement of youth throughout the system, including moving youth to halfway houses.