Texas Youth Commission Ombudsman, Will Harrell, recently responded to a recent article in the Houston Chronicle concerning the limited treatment options for confines of the Texas Youth Commission who suffer with mental health issues. Harrell reiterates that TYC has made great improvements and that it is out of the agency’s hands the number of children entering TYC with these conditions. He goes on to point out that the rise in number regarding mental health is largely because poorer counties have few, if any, interventions and or services for these youth and have no other choice but to send them to TYC.
The Texas Youth Commission is not designed primarily for youths suffering from severe mental illness. It is a correctional/rehabilitation institution for minors who have committed criminal offensives and who need moderate behavioral modification.
April 1, 2009 at 10:46 am |
The lege wants to combine corrections and probation to in crease efficiency and wants to fragment incarceration and treatment to dozens or hundreds of countys to increase efficiency of treatment. They passed SB 103 ,that sounded great, then kicked half the kids out so SB 103 wouldn’t apply to them. “Hey look how much we care” followed a year later by ” Hey look how much money we’re saving.”