HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Pepper spray would hopefully become a last resort tactic when dealing with unruly inmates in the Texas Youth Commission, agency conservator Richard Nedelkoff told state lawmakers on Friday. A rise in the use of pepper spray had been a volatile issue in recent months as inmate activists claimed it was being used unnecessarily in some cases and injuring young inmates. Pepper spray was used more than 1,220 times in 2007, compared to 196 such incidents the year before.
Stability eludes Texas Youth Commission a year after sex scandal; 2/17/2008
DALLAS MORNING NEWS: After Dimitria Pope's forced resignation from the Texas Youth Commission last week, some TYC employees began singing, "Ding-dong, the witch is dead," from The Wizard of Oz. Ms. Pope's imperious style as TYC's acting executive director – she made no secret of her displeasure with staff and referred to herself in third person – won her enemies at the agency.
TYC youth to be released Friday; 2/13/2008
THE PARIS NEWS: The best present a mother could receive comes the day after Valentine’s Day when she picks up her daughter from a Texas Youth Commission facility in Brownswood. The girl, publicly thrust into the Texas Youth Commission saga for being allegedly molested in custody, is to be released Friday morning after spending more than 15 months in the youth prison.
TYC acting director resigns under pressure; 2/12/2008
DALLAS MORNING NEWS: For Dimitria Pope, it was a long goodbye – and a strange one. At a legislative hearing last week, acting executive director Dimitria Pope told lawmakers: 'I am the stabilizing factor of the TYC. I intend to be until I'm pushed out the door.' Ms. Pope, acting executive director of the Texas Youth Commission, resigned late Monday. She had been told she would be fired if she refused to quit. Her exit was the latest in a long line of unorthodox occurrences at the state's juvenile incarceration agency, which collapsed in scandal a year ago.
Texas Youth Commission executive director quits; 2/12/2008
AMERICAN STATESMAN: The embattled acting executive director of the Texas Youth Commission, Dimitria Pope, resigned Monday, reportedly after being told that she would be fired if she didn't quit. Her chief of staff, Mickey Neel, also resigned, agency spokesman Jim Hurley said. The departures marked the latest management shake-up at the agency, whose top officials were forced out last spring amid allegations that sexual abuse of incarcerated teenagers was not properly investigated.
Interim TYC head resigns; 2/12/2008
STAR-TELEGRAM: A former executive of Texas' adult prison system who has run the embattled Texas Youth Commission for six months quit Monday night, a week after signaling to lawmakers that her days were numbered. Dimitria Pope submitted her resignation as acting director in a letter to the youth commission's conservator after the close of business.
Grayson County D.A. Named to TX Youth Commission Advisory Board; 2/12/2008
KTEN: Grayson County District Attorney Joe Brown was appointed Tuesday to the Texas Youth Commission Advisory Board. Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick, who appointed Brown to the position, says Brown's experience with youth and juvenile justice issues qualifies him for the job. The board is responsible for advising and assisting the executive commissioner on matters concerning the TYC.
TYC chief’s resignation stirs further criticism; 2/11/2008
HOUSTON CHRONICLE: The second-in-command at the scandal-ridden Texas Youth Commission resigned under pressure Monday, and the No. 1 man in charge came under fire for keeping the matter under wraps. Dimitria Pope, the agency's acting executive director, tendered her resignation Monday evening, hours after being told by her boss, Richard Nedelkoff, the agency's newly appointed conservator, to quit or be fired, said TYC spokesman Jim Hurley.
Spotlight on TYC intensifies; 2/09/2008
HOUSTON CHRONICLE: When a sex abuse scandal turned a red-hot spotlight on the Texas juvenile justice system in early 2007, state officials vowed to tear down and rebuild an agency rife with abuse, neglect and dangerous facilities. Reforms are happening: Security cameras are being added to monitor lockups, and the prisoner population has been shrunk to a more manageable level.
Disorder at TYC must stop, for kids’ sake; 2/09/2008
AMERICAN STATESMAN: The Texas Youth Commission seems to be in a state of chronic pain and confusion at the top. Almost a year after all six commissioners and the executive director resigned, the agency is on its third conservator - and apparently he’s pushing the acting executive director out the door.
Texas Youth Commission’s new conservator quits Florida post; 2/08/2008
DALLAS MORNING NEWS: The Texas Youth Commission's new conservator said Thursday he is stepping down from his job with a Florida juvenile justice firm, a post he'd intended to keep while reforming the embattled Texas agency. Richard Nedelkoff's decision follows tough questioning from state lawmakers at a Wednesday committee hearing about whether his dual employment posed a conflict of interest.
Acting youth agency director: I’m not up for permanent job; 2/07/2008
AMERICAN STATESMAN: The acting executive director of the troubled Texas Youth Commission, Dimitria Pope, revealed during a Capitol hearing Wednesday that she is not a candidate for the permanent position. Her comments came near the end of a three-hour hearing in which the commission's new conservator, Richard Nedelkoff, repeatedly refused to answer questions from state Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, about Pope's future role.
TYC conservator resigns from business; 2/07/2008
HOUSON CHRONICLE: AUSTIN — The Texas Youth Commission's newly appointed conservator announced Thursday that he would immediately resign his position with a private juvenile justice contractor one day after he publicly declared that his private business posed no conflict of interest with his public office. In a statement, conservator Richard Nedelkoff said he was resigning his position as chief operating officer with the Florida-based Eckerd Youth Alternatives Inc. "to avoid any appearance of impropriety."
Texas Youth Commission, feds strike deal on treatment of juvenile inmates in Edinburg; 2/05/2008
DALLAS MORNING NEWS: The Texas Youth Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice have agreed on measures to stop unconstitutional treatment of juvenile inmates at TYC's Evins prison in Edinburg.
The agreement, filed Friday in federal court in McAllen, includes a number of actions designed to give "protection from harm" to Evins inmates. Among them: TYC will provide adequately trained staff, will track incidents of assaults against youth and will use "only safe methods of restraint."
Justice Department sues TYC, Evins facility; 2/4/2008
THE MONITOR: The Texas Youth Commission has agreed to change safety procedures at Evins juvenile detention center to address federal findings that staff members have violated inmates’ civil rights. In a lawsuit filed late last week by the U.S. Department of Justice, attorneys claim TYC “has engaged … in a pattern … of failing to ensure that the youth at Evins are adequately protected from harm.”