Juvenile Detention and Our Road to Jericho

Matthew: 25:42-43
" I was hungry and you fed Me not!"
" I was poor and in prison and you came not to Me!"
" I was poor and to bring Me clothing was not your lot!"
" I was sick but you closed your eyes and would not see!"

It was election day. The outside world was abuzz with who won and who lost in the latest round of elections, but to these kids at the Evins Juvenile Detention Center, one can't help but feel that few on the outside would give much hope to placing these young people amongst the winners. I tour the facility because of a number of complaints are brought to my attention. A troubled history for the facility makes it all the more important that I do what I can to help. I asked the TYC executive director to come down from Austin to address concerns that were brought to my attention. I visit the facility with him.

The first detainee I meet is very much a child. At 12 years of age this young small boy stands out as compared to an older, more hardened, gang member detainee who comes from one of our larger cities in Texas. "Why are you here son?" I ask him. He tells me he attacked his mother and one of his sisters by pouring an acidic-like liquid on them. "Why would you do that son?" He tells me that it was part of a devil worship practice. I touch his forehead and tell him that this is the wrong path, that many people love him and expect better things from him. He looks at me like he never heard someone say that and was scanning my face for the slightest indication of deception.

I pray that he is loved and that someone out there still cares for him. I frankly don't know, but am well aware how destructive poor family relations have on a young child. I privately fear that this is not the place to nurture a troubled child back to health.

It strikes me, as I note time and time again on my visit, that the young detainee, like so many others, has emotional or psychological issues that are at the core of his troubles. "Why is this young child being held and participating with older more mature detainees," I ask. Noting my concern, they tell me they will move him. "He is not hardened, he's not like some of the others," I say. This boy is not going to improve, I think to myself, if we simply warehouse him with older troubled young men.

We must learn to better treat and discern those with emotional and psychological issues. This is most especially true with the younger detainees.

Next I meet an older detainee who still is a member of a gang. "Why don't you get out of the gang," I ask him. He tells me he can't. "Why can't you?" They will kill me or my family he tells me. Gangs have an increased and dangerous presence at our facilities. I can still remember when Judge Joe B. Evins back in the seventies advocated to build a local juvenile center so that our local more naive young people would not have to be sent to Houston or Dallas to be corrupted by hardened gang members. Today's reality is that most of the detainees are from the larger cities and gang life is a part of their experience. That also means a heavier involvement and problems with drugs. The section that deals with drug addictions experienced financial cutbacks and is straining under the growing detention populations with addiction issues. The gang experience is spreading to distant locations by way of our correctional institutions.

Again I privately worry that the average Texan has no concept of what is happening to these young people. My greatest worry is that no one cares. This is after all a place of rehabilitation. These are young people. Someone should care. If we don't address it now the problem will only grow worse and more costly. We still can save some of these young people. You can still see it in their eyes. They want to do better, they are looking for a way out. We only need to provide a healthy recuperative enviornment and guide them in the right direction.

The guards I talk to are all at their breaking point. Low pay and low morale are common. Turnover is significant. Training is inadequate as staff is increasingly confused by their limitations and appropriate conduct. The youths who they guard are becoming more and more hardened and much more violent. Increasingly the detainee to staff ratio appears to be growing rather than shrinking. Budget cuts are not making things easier, they are causing greater strain on an already strained system.

I am pleased to see the recent attentions to this issue. This always helps. In the legislature I will do my part to try to find solutions. As always I appreciate and do read your suggestions. I can only pray that when the spotlight fades, that this state will find the will to make a difference. As we journey on our road to Jericho will we pass on by or will we have the wisdom to stop and meet our obligations? This is our challenge. I know one very lonely and confused soul housed in a very small body that is depending on us to take that challenge and make the right decision.


(photo by Steve Liss, www.artonpurpose.org)