TEXAS, USA — Behind the walls of five Texas juvenile prisons, the U.S. Justice Department alleges children are being subjected to harsh conditions and physical and emotional abuse.
The Justice Department said that their findings revealed the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) violated the U.S. Constitution as well as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the American with Disabilities Act.
The Justice Department alleged the TJJD failed to provide special education and related services to children with disabilities.
“These conditions have children feeling hopeless and desperate,” said U.S. Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristin Clarke.
Some guards used excessive amounts of pepper spray on juveniles for minor infractions, the report alleged, including an instance when a staff member pepper sprayed a child for slamming a washing machine door.
“Canisters of pepper spray meant to disperse large crowds being used on individual kids, pepper spray being discharged directly into kids’ faces, and children being taunted or spit on,” said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton, Northern District of Texas.
The report further alleged some kids were being kept in isolation for 17-22 hours a day for weeks at a time with nothing to do.
”Such isolation also carries a high risk of psychiatric harm such as hallucinations, paranoia, depression, anxiety self-harm and even suicide,” said Clarke.
Investigators found that 85% of juveniles in jail have high or moderate mental health needs but aren’t getting proper mental health services.
“Some TJJD personnel engage in the use of excessive force and subject kids to prolonged isolation, practices that are damaging to the children and also increase, not decrease, the odds of the kids will act out and develop more severe behavioral issues,” said Simonton.
But perhaps the most disturbing of the allegations is the sexual assault of juveniles.
"In three of the five TJJD security facilities, children reported some of the highest rates of sexual victimization in the country," the report alleged.
"In many incidents TJJD staff, the very people charged with keeping children safe are the abusers,” said Clarke.
TJJD is supposed to be helping rehabilitate juveniles, so they don’t get out and commit more violent crimes but the report alleges it’s not happening.
”Texans know that this is not how we rehabilitate our children,” said Simonton.
TJJD issued a statement saying they are worked closely with investigators and in the past two years have increased supervision and safety by hiring more mental health professionals, improved training and hired more staff by increasing wages.
Among the steps TJJD says they've taken in the last two years are raising direct care staff salaries by 15% in 2022 and another 5% in 2023, hiring more mental health professionals and adding enhanced stabilization units to supervise youth with significant mental health needs, improving training, and more.
The report comes three years after the department launched a federal investigation into alleged widespread abuse and harsh practices within the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, which takes in hundreds of young people every year.
In 2021, the Justice Department opened an investigation into Texas’ five juvenile facilities after advocates filed a complaint, the Associated Press reports.