By BILL MURPHY
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
Crowding in Harris County's juvenile detention facilities is forcing authorities to release youths before they have completed their sentences or counseling for such issues as anger management, the juvenile probation director says.
The average sentence in a secure facility is four months, but youths are being released after two and a half to three months, said Harvey Hetzel, whose department runs the facilities.
"It's probably going to get even shorter. We open the back door to let kids in the front door," Hetzel said. "Anecdotally, the shorter the length of stay, the less successful you are with them."
No studies have been done on whether longer stays translate into fewer youths returning to juvenile courts, he said.
The juvenile probation department has faced crowding in its facilities for years. Possible solutions include building a facility solely for girls and a new, larger facility on West Dallas near Shepherd, Hetzel said.
The opening of a new Juvenile Justice Center downtown next month will not reduce crowding unless the current West Dallas facility remains open while its replacement is built next to it, said juvenile court Judge Pat Shelton.
Existing facilities can hold up to 460 youths sent there by judges after court trials or other legal proceedings. They include the Delta Boot Camp in Katy, the Burnett-Bayland Reception Center in the 6500 block of Chimney Rock, the nearby Burnett-Bayland Home and Harris County Youth Village in Seabrook.
Multi-tasking
Youths who commit the most serious crimes, such as murder, can be certified, tried as adults and turned over to the state prison system if convicted. Judges can sentence some repeat offenders and those who commit serious felonies to Texas Youth Commission facilities, including some with tighter security than those run by Harris County.
The county's probation facilities tend to house youths who have committed less serious crimes than those at TYC.
When judges order that youths be held after court dispositions, the juvenile probation department brings them to the West Dallas detention building. They undergo psychological evaluation, and department officials decide which facilities can best help rehabilitate them, Hetzel said.
The West Dallas facility also houses juveniles awaiting disposition of their court cases. It is the most severely crowded county juvenile facility.
The state has authorized the county to house 189 juveniles in the West Dallas building. The county routinely exceeds that number by 40-60.
When the population at West Dallas is high, probation officials lower it by releasing youths serving sentences at other facilities and moving youths from West Dallas into them, Hetzel said.
As recently as 2002, officials with the county probation department told the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission that the county's juvenile facilities would no longer be overcrowded once the Juvenile Justice Center opened downtown, Shelton said.
The $58 million Juvenile Justice Center, a renovated courthouse at San Jacinto and Congress, will open early next month. Designed to house juvenile courtrooms and pre-adjudication detainees, it likely will be crowded soon after it opens if the county goes ahead with a plan to close and raze the West Dallas facility.
Pushing for space
A new pre-adjudication facility would be built at the West Dallas site, but design and construction could take two years.
Shelton has told the county's Juvenile Board that he is worried that the county will not honor a commitment made to the state to operate the Juvenile Justice Center and West Dallas while a new facility is built. Commissioners Court will make a decision on the issue in June.
The probation department's release of some youths before they complete their prescribed commitments should not be portrayed as being soft on offenders, Shelton said. Even if they are released, he said, the youths remain on probation.
