PARTNERSHIP: TEXAS AND PREA

Transcription

1 PARTNERSHIP: TEXAS AND PREA Prison Rape Elimination Act 2003 Elva Chapman Quality Assurance Administrator Dallas County Juvenile Department

2 OVERVIEW OF THE DALLAS COUNTY JUVENILE DEPARTMENT Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center is a 392 bed facility that houses male and female residents. 282 beds are used for pre-adjudication, in addition to 8 medical isolation beds, and 32 seclusion beds; START (Short Term Adolescent Residential Treatment) is a 60 day treatment program for male and female residents with conduct disorders. It houses a total of 40 residents (30 males and 10 females); RDT (Residential Drug Treatment) is a 90 day residential drug treatment program followed by a 90 day out-patient drug treatment program. It houses a total of 60 residents (50 males and 10 females;

3 Continued The Dallas County Lyle B. Medlock Residential Post-Adjudication Secured Program houses 96 male residents. The facility provides two treatment programs. Residential Treatment for moderate to severe conduct disorders and a sex offender program; The Dallas County Juvenile Department operates three (3) nonsecured residential treatment programs (Letot, Youth Village, Hill Center); Approximately 500 Juvenile Supervision Officers, 275 Juvenile Probation Officers, and 200 support staff are employed by the Dallas County Juvenile Department; The Dallas County Juvenile Department operates a Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program that serves approximately 210 students. In addition, Dallas County operates Charter Schools in each of the secured and non-secured facilities.

4 Dallas County Detention Center Organizational Chart Superintendent Grade L Sr Secretary Grad e 08 Business M anager Grade G Program Manag er II Grade I Program M anager II Grade I Support Supervisors Grad e Property C lerk Managers Grade G Secretary Grade 06 Lead C as ework er Grade F F Secretary Grade 06 Support Staff JDO Su pervisors Grade EE JD O Grade AA - C C Admissions C oordinators Grade 7 JDO Grade AA-CC Transportation Officers Grade 8

5 THE TRAINING EVENT April 2007-Caleb Ashbridge, of the Moss Group (and under the cooperative agreement with the National Institute of Corrections) and Kevin Dubose, lead investigator with the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission collaborated to develop training for the Dallas County Juvenile Department s PREA Initiative. June 2007-Mr. Dubose and Mr. Ashbridge presented two oneday training sessions on the PREA; 206 Dallas County Juvenile Probation Officers and Juvenile Supervision Officers attended the training sessions;

6 TARRANT COUNTY JOINS DALLAS COUNTY IN THE PREA INITIATIVE March 2008-Tarrant County, Texas is selected as a PREA Pilot Site; June 2008-Dallas and Tarrant County collaborate in discussions with the National Institute of Corrections to discuss PREA Standards for Juvenile Facilities.

7 DALLAS EMBRACES PREA All juvenile probation officers, juvenile supervision officers and education staff are required to participate in PREA training; PREA training is required training for all Dallas County volunteers and interns; Texas Juvenile Probation Commission Investigators with the Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation (ANE) Division provide training to all Dallas County designated internal investigators; Dallas County completes the Annie E. Casey Juvenile Detention Self-Assessment.

8 TEXAS COMMITS TO PREA 2008-The Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (TJPC) begins the process of rewriting standards that are applicable to pre and post adjudication secured facilities; TJPC brings juvenile professionals from across Texas to participate in the rewriting of standards for pre and post secured facilities; TJPC collaborates with Juvenile Professionals across the nation to bring PREA training to Texas Juvenile Justice Professionals.

9 STAKEHOLDERS Texas Juvenile Probation Commission; Texas Juvenile Detention Association (TJDA); Texas Probation Association (TPA); Juvenile Justice Association of Texas (JJAT); Representatives from each of the seven (7)Texas Regional Juvenile Chiefs Associations;

10 Continued Representatives from each of the seven urban counties; President s Council of Juvenile Probation Leadership; Advocacy Inc.; Washington College of Law (provided grant funding for PREA Training and training curriculum development); Just Detention International (California); Annie E. Casey Foundation provided technical assistance.

11 TEXAS REWRITES THE RULES Title 37 Texas Administrative Code: Chapter : Searches. Regulates the search of juveniles being admitted into a juvenile secured facility; Chapter : Medical Treatment for Victims of Sexual Abuse. Requires that medical services are provided to any resident that is the victim of sexual abuse at no cost to the family; Chapter : Behavioral Health Care Services for Sexual Abuse Victims. Requires mental health services are provided to any resident that is the victim of sexual abuse at no cost to the family; Chapter : Behavioral Screening. Requires that prior to placing a resident into a housing unit, the resident shall be screened for potential vulnerabilities or tendencies of acting out with sexually aggressive or assaultive behavior;

12 Continued Chapter : Classification Plan. Requires that each facility shall have a classification plan and it shall include a resident s potential for sexual abuse that are discovered during the resident s behavioral health screening; Chapter : Orientation. Requires that within 12 hours of admission a resident is provided a verbal orientation that includes: Information about PREA; Prevention and intervention; Methods of minimizing risk of sexual abuse; Reporting sexual abuse and assault; Treatment and Counseling.

13 Continued Chapter 358: Identifying, Reporting, and Investigating Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation, Death and Serious Incidents in Departments, Programs, and Facilities. Provides that a toll-free number be made available for reporting abuse; addresses all requirements for reporting abuse; Requires the prominent display of signage concerning reporting and zero tolerance policy for abuse of juveniles; Provides guidelines for submitting internal ANE investigations, notification to law enforcement, and parents.

14 Continued Chapter 344: Employment, Certification, and Training for Juvenile Officers. Requires mandatory criminal background checks; PREA is mandatory training for juvenile officers prior to certification PREA is mandatory training for interns, and volunteers that work directly with juveniles;

15 Information Texas Juvenile Probation Commission: Dallas County Juvenile Department: Elva Chapman: