Protect Youth and Communities by Improving Juvenile Justice

• HB 3689 (McClendon, Kolkhorst, Isett, Madden): This is the Sunset Bill for the Texas Youth Commission (TYC), the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (TJPC), and the Office of the Independent Ombudsman (OIO). – Signed by the Governor; effective immediately!

Beginning in mid-2008, Texas’ juvenile justice agencies began undergoing Sunset review. The Sunset process works by setting a date on which an agency will be abolished unless legislation is passed to continue its functions; this statutorily mandated comprehensive review of a state agency arises only once every 12 years and offered a unique opportunity for a systemic evaluation of the administration of juvenile justice in Texas.

 

Throughout late 2008, Sunset Commission staff accepted feedback about the system from a broad range of stakeholders, including local juvenile probation chiefs, juvenile judges, county commissioners, and advocacy groups, specifically the Texas Juvenile Justice Roundtable. The Commission’s final recommendations about the state juvenile justice system were presented on January 14, 2009, the day after the start of the 81^st legislative session.

We commend the efforts of stakeholders, who were passionately engaged in the Sunset process from start to finish. Though the policy discussion occasionally became contentious, it was clear throughout the process that all stakeholders had a shared dedication to improving the lives of Texas’ most troubled youth, families, and communities.

The final version of HB 3689 puts into place a variety of elements to improve the function of the juvenile justice system at state and local levels, as detailed below:

System-wide reforms:

Continues TYC and TJPC as separate agencies until 2011. Requires the Sunset Commission to evaluate (a) both agencies’ compliance with the provisions of SB 103 (the omnibus legislation reforming TYC in 2007); (b) requirements enacted by the most recent legislature; and (c) joint initiatives in coordinating activities and services, including strategic planning, sharing of youth data across youth agencies, assessments and classification of youth, and the collection of data on probation outcomes.

Creates the Coordinated Strategic Planning Committee with members appointed by the directors of TYC and TJPC for the purpose of agency collaboration on a variety of initiatives, including implementation of a common data source and data sharing among TYC, TJPC, and various other state agencies that serve youth in the juvenile justice system.

Requires TYC, TJPC, and various other state agencies to adopt a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments (TCOOMMI) for continuity of care for juvenile offenders with mental impairments. Requires TCOOMMI, in coordination with TYC, TJPC, and other participating state and local agencies, to collect data and report on the outcomes of the MOU.

 

TYC reforms:

 

Requires TYC to provide information regarding a youth’s progress to the committing court upon request.

 

Requires TYC to provide the committing court with notice of a youth’s release no later than the 30^th day before the release date.

 

Requires TYC to provide the committing court or the county or state to which the youth is being released with the youth’s re-entry and reintegration plan and a report on the youth’s progress.

 

Requires TYC to develop a comprehensive plan to reduce recidivism and ensure the successful re-entry of juveniles into the community upon release from state facilities.

OIO reforms:

Continues the OIO until 2011, and requires the Sunset Commission to evaluate the OIO’s compliance with requirements enacted by the most recent legislature.      

Requires the OIO and TYC to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding concerning the development of formal procedures to help ensure timely and informative communication between the two agencies on OIO reports and areas of overlapping responsibility. (Note: This reflects a recommendation we made in an April, 2008, policy memo to TYC.) 

 

Authorizes the OIO to withhold information concerning matters under active investigation from TYC and to report the information to the Governor.

TJPC/County-operated Juvenile Probation Department reforms:  

Requires TJPC to regulate, and local juvenile boards to inspect and certify, all non-secure correctional facilities that accept only youth on probation. (Note: These facilities were previously not monitored by any state agency.)

Requires TJPC to ensure that its rules related to minimum standards for confined juveniles are in keeping with constitutional standards, federal law, and state law.

Requires juvenile probation departments to complete a risk and needs assessment prior to disposition, using a validated risk and needs assessment instrument.

Requires TJPC to adopt rules for the use of both the mental health screening and risk-needs assessment instruments. Requires juvenile probation departments to report data from the use of both instruments to TJPC.  

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• HB 1232 (Menendez); Creates a pilot program in San Antonio to focus on early treatment of youth with behavioral problems. – Signed by the Governor! 
• CSHB 1629 (Naishtat, Madden); Ensures that foster youth who have been committed to TYC, often referred to as “dually dependent” youth, do not fall through the cracks of either system. – Signed by the Governor; effective immediately! 
• HB 1630 (Naishtat); Ensures that youth are assessed for Medicaid and CHIP eligibility prior to their release from a TYC institutional or a secure juvenile probation facility. – Signed by the Governor; effective immediately!
• HB 1688 (Castro); Makes the process for appealing juvenile adjudications the same as in adult trials in order to eliminate confusion for attorneys, youth, and families. – Signed by the Governor!  
• CSHB 2386 (Castro); Gives a juvenile judge the discretion to seal a youth’s juvenile record after s/he has completed a court-ordered drug treatment program. – Signed by the Governor! 
• HB 3316 (McClendon, Madden, Hodge); Authorizes prosecution of offenses by staff against youth in the custody of TYC in either the county where the offense happened or in Austin, so that no criminal acts perpetrated against youth in TYC facilities go unprosecuted because of a lack of local resources. – Signed by the Governor!
• CSHB 4451 (McReynolds, Miller, S., Marquez); Ensures that youth discharged from TYC because of severe mental health issues are able to access needed mental health services through TCOOMMI. – Signed by the Governor; effective immediately!   
• SB 518 (Harris); Increases the amount of time that defense and prosecuting attorneys have to review a youth’s case prior to a transfer hearing to criminal court (rather than juvenile court). – Signed by the Governor!
• CSSB 839 (Hinojosa); Eliminates life without parole as an option for youth who have been certified as adults. – Signed by the Governor!  
• CSSB 1374 (West); Requires TJPC to include additional information in their annual reports regarding the effectiveness of community-based programs. – Signed by the Governor!   

Work Ahead

Our Juvenile Justice Initiative will continue to stay involved in the upcoming Sunset review of TYC and TJPC as required by HB 3689, specifically by monitoring and providing feedback on the implementation of legislative mandates for juvenile justice reform.   

In addition, we hope to look at other issues impacting system-involved youth in Texas , such as the intersection of juvenile records, juvenile confidentiality and data sharing, and the treatment of youth who are certified as adults or given determinate sentences.