Rebirth, renewal, regeneration and all the imagery of springtime, these are the words and images of the season that is upon us. After a long week of looking into the sad affairs of the Texas Youth Commission, these are the words most of us would like to see applied to the troubled agency.
I took this picture on my way out of the capitol this morning. I had a long six hour drive home thereafter. The symbolism in the picture never left me. My thoughts on the drive home remained on the troubling testimony and the faces of the kids I saw back at the Evins Unit in my home county. I'm looking forward to once again meeting with the people working at the Evins TYC unit to see if things have changed for the better. I will likely pay a visit to the unit and pray that our work and all the attention will bring a measure of hope to the employees and children at our juvenile centers.
For now, it looks like a good spring cleaning is still in order as we welcome in a new season.
3 comments:
Mr. Pena: I hope that your and/or your committee will look into a child sex abuse case in Edinburg that mirrors the TYC case in that officials here are looking the other way. I'm referring to the confession of an Edinburg North High School teacher admitting to an "intimate relationship" with a then 14-year old student. Please read about this story in The Paper of South Texas. It is no less egregious or appalling than the TYC case, where elected and appointed officials fail to report, investigate and prosecute alleged child molesters because of politics, only in this case, the alleged abuser has signed a confession.
Mr. Rep. there are TYC employess in Edinburg that quit and left to go work for the Sherriffs dept.
what puzzles me is they left right before things got ugly...
I posted this response and hope it addresses your concern:
"The Paper of South Texas has noted the importance of upholding the law in the protection of all our children. Since first alerted to improprieties at the Texas Youth Commission our office has made considerable effort to personally investigate the problems within the agency. The Texas Observer in one of it's noted pieces documented our work with the employees of the Evins TYC unit to investigate the circumstances there. We noted and reported needed improvements to authorities within the agency. The Monitor newspaper and other media outlets reported our concerns and visits in the Valley and in Austin with these authorities. Later I participated as a guest panelist on the Texas Senate Criminal Justice committee investigative hearing in McAllen. During the 80th Legislative Session I sponsored legislation to address improprieties directed at juveniles statewide and at our state juvenile centers. As a member of the Joint Select Committee on Operation & Management of Texas Youth Commission I have made every effort to continue to investigate concerns in the care of juveniles at our centers across the state, including the one in the Rio Grande Valley.
In it's recent editorial and editorial cartoon the Paper of South Texas suggests that equal effort should be brought to the attention of all cases of alleged sexual abuse including those within local school districts. I have to agree that all cases of sexual abuse, most especially that directed towards children, must receive serious attention from the appropriate authorities. In the specific case highlighted by the periodical our office met with the father of the child on two occasions to date and immediately sought to assist him with his concerns. The Joint Select Committee on the Operation & Management of Texas Youth Commission was not given the charge by Governor Perry or the legislative leadership to investigate occurrences that might have occurred at local school districts by non-detainees of the TYC however there are government authorities who do have this responsibility. We will continue to work with this or any other citizen from our community who seeks redress or assistance from their government. I would hope that this post would clear up the misleading information presented by some and would aid in clarifying my position on the issues raised."
Since that post we have at the request of the child's father spoken to the various government entities responsible for addressing these allegations.
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