The Justice Department announced today its findings that the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) is violating the U.S. Constitution, as well as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
“Children are committed to TJJD facilities to receive treatment and rehabilitation so that they may return to their communities as law-abiding, productive citizens,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Our investigation showed that, far from achieving those objectives, TJJD engaged in a pattern of abuse, deprivation of essential services and disability-related discrimination that seriously harms children and undermines their rehabilitation. State officials have an obligation to keep these children safe, to teach them, to provide them necessary health services and to treat them fairly, without discrimination. The Justice Department is committed to protecting the rights of vulnerable children in juvenile facilities. We look forward to working with state officials to remedy these violations, institute needed reform and improve outcomes for Texas children.”
The department’s report details findings from a comprehensive investigation of five TJJD youth facilities, including the Evins Regional Juvenile Center, Gainesville State School, Giddings State School, McClennan County State Juvenile Correctional Facility, and Ron Jackson State Juvenile Correctional Complex.
The report concludes that TJJD routinely violates the constitutional rights of children in all five facilities by exposing them to excessive force and prolonged isolation, failing to protect children from sexual abuse, and failing to provide adequate mental health services.
TJJD violates the IDEA by failing to provide special education and related services to children with disabilities. TJJD discriminates against children with disabilities in violation of the ADA by not providing reasonable modifications necessary to permit their participation in programming required for release and denying them an equal opportunity to benefit from education.
These violations of the Constitution and federal law place children at substantial risk of serious physical and psychological harm and impede successful outcomes for children.
