Published: April 04, 2007 09:05 am      

TYC to release 16, more than 500 statewide freed

The Texas Youth Commission is speeding up the process of getting young offenders back home with the release of 552 teens from TYC facilities around the state. About 16 will come from the Corsicana Residential Treatment Center.

Ten could be ready to go home this weekend, said Rebecca Cox, superintendent of the Corsicana TYC facility.

“It may be more or less than 16. We have a lot who don’t have approved homes to go to,” she said.

Statewide, the number of youth being freed equals about 10 percent of the total being held, said John Hurley, spokesman for the state agency. To put it into perspective, the agency released 3,071 youth in fiscal year 2006, he pointed out.

“This is not some astronomical number. We’re not throwing the doors of the jail open, and saying ‘Everybody make a run for it,’ ” Hurley said.

The youth going home fall into two groups: Some 260 were already scheduled for release, having met all the conditions of their sentences, and having gone through the various programs.

“They were already in the queue to be released in the next month or so,” Hurley explained. “They’ve served the terms they were sent here to serve. So we’re going to turn them loose.”

The other 292 became eligible because of a new policy to set aside the controversial re-socialization program. Re-socialization consists of five phases in which the teens learn responsibility, empathy, and prevention techniques. The program has been criticized for how wishy-washy the objectives are, leaving it open to abuse.

“It’s a policy decision we made Friday, which says you’re eligible if you’ve met the minimum requirements set when you were sentenced, and have had good conduct for 30 days,” Hurley said. “We removed that part about the different phases of socialization, because we believe there were instances where students were punished, possibly by retribution or coercion. We don’t have a lot of confidence in that program right now.”

The Youth Commission has been under fire recently for allegations of sexual abuse, and complaints that young people’s sentences have been extended because of minor infractions, or because students filed complaints about staffers.

Today, a panel of representatives from NAACP, LULAC, the district attorney’s association, and the youth commission will meet in Austin to start going through the 1,600 files containing sentence extensions.

“Every extension better be documented and justified,” Hurley said. “We all know the case of one girl who was supposedly found with contraband, but it turned out to be an extra pair of socks. That’s just dumb, and it’s not right.”

More youth could be released based on the case reviews. “We won’t know until we see what’s in those files,” he said.

The 260 youth being released more or less on schedule must still abide by the terms of probation, and those who are sex offenders will have to register.

Of the 292 expedited releases, none are murderers or sexual offenders, Hurley said. “So, there’s no victim notification requirements, or sexual offender registrations required, and all the homes are certified they can receive these kids.”

Under the process, each offender will be picked up or provided transportation back to their homes around the state.

“They won’t just be milling around,” Cox said.

The Corsicana Residential Treatment Facility houses 200 youthful offenders in a highly restrictive environment, all of whom have been diagnosed with some mental health issues.

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Janet Jacobs may be contacted via e-mail at jacobs@corsicanadailysun.com