Justice Department Says Giddings State School Violated Youth Offenders’ Rights

The U.S. Department of Justice released a report last week that detailed unconstitutional conditions at all five of Texas’ juvenile detention facilities, including the Giddings State School.

The Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) confines hundreds of juveniles at its secure detention facilities each year. County juvenile courts in the state send children to these facilities when they are found to have committed an act that would have been considered a serious crime if they were adults, or when children violate the terms of their juvenile probation or parole.

TJJD has five secure detention sites. These prison-like facilities are located in Gainesville, Brownwood, Mart, Edinburg and Giddings. The Department of Justice (DOJ) launched an investigation into unconstitutional conditions back in October 2021. The report said a team of investigators inspected all five facilities at least twice.

“DOJ staff and expert consultants reviewed thousands of pages of documents, including incident and use of force reports, policies and regulations, training materials, mental health records, education records, general records, unit logs, grievances, and investigative files,” the report said. “We and our expert consultants also reviewed hundreds of hours of video footage. Finally, our investigation included extensive outreach to families and other stakeholders and community groups.”

The report detailed physical and sexual abuse, prolonged time in isolation, lack of mental health support and unsafe conditions. It cited several incidents at the Giddings State School.

In July 2022, staff on a mental health unit at Giddings used excessive pepper spray on a child identified as “Jacob.” Video footage shows one staff member intentionally discharging a canister of pepper spray directly into Jacob’s face at very close range. The report said staff made minimal attempts to verbally de-escalate before resorting to pepper spray.

Also in July 2022, a staff member pepper sprayed a child identified as “Daniel” at Giddings for slamming the washing machine door. The report said staff could be heard warning Daniel, “Do it one more time and I’ll [pepper spray] you. I’m not playing games.” When Daniel slammed the door again, the report said, the staff sprayed him directly in the face at close range.

“Aside from abuse by staff, we found a pattern of sexual victimization and misconduct among children that reflects a lack of adequate staff supervision,” the report said.

In May of 2021, a boy at the Giddings State School was prosecuted for placing his genitalia on a younger boy’s forehead.

“Children across TJJD’s secure facilities also experience excessive amounts of time alone in their cells under ‘operational lockdowns’ and security practices unrelated to their behavior,” the report said. “While in their cells, children have virtually nothing to do to pass the time.”

In Giddings, for example, inspectors observed children locked down for the night at 5:25 p.m., even though TJJD generally sets bedtime at 8 to 9 p.m.

The report highlighted the failure of the state to meaningfully educate the children in its care, especially children with disabilities. According to the report, a child in the Crisis Stabilization Unit at Giddings received instruction for only three hours total from March through July 2023.

The Texas Tribune reported on the DOJ’s findings in an article last week. TJJD told the Tribune that it worked closely with the federal investigators during their site visits in 2022 at a time when TJJD was at the “peak” of “unprecedented staffing shortages.”

“At TJJD we are continually working to improve our operations and services to the youth in our care and the communities of Texas we protect,” the agency said in a statement to the Tribune. “We have a zero-tolerance policy toward abuse and neglect and have always fully rejected any abusive behaviors at our campuses.”

The agency added that it has “made several recent significant improvements,” including boosting the ranks of its officers by raising salaries by 15% in 2022 and another 5% in 2023 as approved by the Texas Legislature, hiring more mental health professionals, improving staff training and adding a “holistic rehabilitative program.”

The Tribune noted, however, that this is not the first time Texas’ juvenile detention facilities faced criticism. The agency’s predecessor, the Texas Youth Commission, was placed under a conservatorship during the 2000s following a major sexual abuse scandal.

Read the complete DOJ report online: https://www. justice.gov/d9/2024-07/2024_ tjjd_findings_report.pdf.