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The DOJ found that officers overused pepper spray, kept youths in prolonged isolation and failed to protect them from sexual abuse .
The agency routinely denies disabled children “reasonable modifications” they need to successfully complete their incarceration. Instead, the report said, children are expelled from programming due to behavioral issues related to their disabilities and required to repeat it — extending their time in custody or leading to their transfer to an adult prison.
The state agency also overly relied on isolation, keeping children in segregated cells for up to 24 hours a day for days or weeks on end — when time in such a unit is meant to be limited to one to two hours, investigators found. The agency, then operating as the Texas Youth Commission, was placed under a conservatorship in the early 2000s in response to repeated allegations of physical and sexual abuse, operational and safety problems and a cover-up effort by high-level staff.
The report outlined a number of “recommended minimum remedial measures,” including requiring non-force interventions be used whenever possible, eliminating the use of pepper spray in canisters designed for large crowd management and limiting periods of isolation.
Justice Department Investigation Texas Juvenile Detention Centers Juvenile Justice Gov Greg Abbott Texas Juvenile Justice Department Abuse Sexual Abuse Isolation Traumainformed Care
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