In this episode of The Texan Recap, Multimedia Editor Joseph Sweeney chats about how the Texas Juvenile Justice Department was found in violation of youth offenders rights and how military veterans and their families come together for a day of mental support.

Hosted and edited by Joseph Sweeney. Reported by Tyler Pullum and Maya Thakur. Cover art by Emma Berke. Music by Top Flow Productions.

Joseph Sweeney: The Texas Juvenile Justice Department is found in violation of youth offenders rights and military veterans and their families come together for a day of mental support.

I’m your host Joseph Sweeney and this is the Texan Recap for Monday, August 12.

*Music Plays*

Joseph: In a report released earlier this month, the Department of Justice found the Texas Juvenile Justice Department in violation of youth offenders’ rights. Here to tell us more about the report and responses from within the state is General News Reporter Tyler Pullum. 

How are you doing today Tyler?

Tyler Pullum: I’m doing good. How are you doing today?

Joseph: I’m doing great, thank you for asking. So, tell me a bit about, what were the violations that were listed in the Department of Justice report?

Tyler: Yeah, so some of the violations that were listed in the Department of Justice report basically outlined a number of instances of sexual abuse that not only were at the hands of the adults that worked at the facility, but also at the hands of children that were at the facility. Additionally, there is also a number of educational violations that were happening. Many of these children that are coming into these facilities are already multiple grade levels behind in terms of their reading and math attainment levels, but by the time that they go through the programs, they’re even further behind than when they came through. And then also another notable violation of many students rights or children’s rights in these programs is students with disabilities and children with disabilities, particularly oftentimes are not given access to the Special Individualized Education Programs, or IEPs, and also at the same time, there’s not a lot of consideration taking care, uh, for a lot of these children’s disabilities, which is notably a violation of the ADA, or Americans with Disabilities Act.

Joseph: And so the investigation that led to this report, it began in 2021. How far back do these violations go that we know of?

Tyler: So what we know about these violations and kind of the report that was filed was basically there is a group I believe they go by the name of apple seed and the project that works with Texans with disabilities or something like that. And basically in 2020 they found a report using information that was all from before the pandemic to compile their complaint basically to the Department of Justice Office of Civil Rights, and then what the Department of Justice did is that they went in and they did their own investigation. So a lot of the data that they collected is from throughout 2021 and 2022 and into 2023 up until when they concluded their report earlier this month.

Joseph: And so what was the Texas Juvenile Justice Department’s response to the report and how do they plan on improving moving forward?

Tyler: So in a board meeting that they had just this past Friday the Texas Juvenile Justice Department largely denied some of the claims that were made in the report. They also tried to downplay some of the accusations that were made by the Department of Justice. But at the same time, they recognized the needs for some safety measures and precautions like in the report. There’s, I believe it says that in an audit that was conducted during the investigation, 63 percent of staff members at the facilities were turned off their body cameras at various points of interaction throughout the day, which is a violation of not only the I believe federal procedure, but Texas juvenile justice procedure. And so that was something that they routinely kind of went over and hammered in at the board meeting was that these officers and the people working at these facilities need to have their body cam footage on all the time. And there needs to be someone monitoring these body cam footages.

Joseph: At the board meeting they took public comments. So can you tell me a bit about what took place at the board meeting and also what you heard expressed during public comment?

Tyler: So basically at the board meeting they took comment from about six people and they each had around two minutes to talk. And some of the more notable things that we heard were just a feeling of complete disappointment. And honestly, a lot of people that spoke were absolutely horrified at some of the things that were revealed in the report kind of from the standpoint of a lot of these people that were Speaking at the board meeting, these are advocates that have been working, you know, with people that have been through the system before, but a lot of this stuff was largely unknown.

A lot of the stuff that they knew came from reports, came from witness testimony, but you know, this department of justice report actually was very comprehensive and it told them a lot of things that, you know, maybe a lot of these advocates did not know themselves. And so there was one particular person that did a public comment and she talked about how this is an issue that started in 2020.

It didn’t start in 2021. It didn’t start in 2019. And she actually was in the system in the 90s. And she said that a lot of the stuff that was mentioned in the report happened to her while she was in the system. And this is a continual thing that’s been going on for at least a hundred years that this organization has been around.

Joseph: For the story, you spoke with a member of the Texas Civil Rights Project. So, who were they and what was their reaction to the report and also their organization’s reaction to the report?

Tyler: The person that I spoke to, their name is Alicia Castillo and they’re the Associate Director for Policy at the Texas Civil Rights Project.

And basically the statement that they had made was kind of just talking about how disappointed and upset they were at a lot of the findings that happened, but also at the same time in the interview that I had conducted with them, they said that they were appreciative of the direction that the department was taking the, uh, Texas Juvenile Justice Department because in their board meeting, they had mentioned that a lot of changes need to be made.

But also at the same time Castillo, Alicia Castillo also acknowledged that there needs to be a lot of fundamental changes and there needs to be a complete re-understanding of the way that this organization works. And it’s not just an issue that’s going to come with more funding. It needs to come with actual care.

Joseph: Well, those are all my questions, but do you have anything else that you want to add to that?

Tyler: I think that there’s going to be some hearings in the Texas legislature, this upcoming session about some of the findings that were happening. So that’ll be something to follow up with. 

Joseph: That was general news reporter, Tyler Pullum.Thank you so much for being here today.

Military Service affects not only those serving, but their loved ones as well. The Veteran Spouse Network with UTs Steve Hicks School of Social work is one such organization supporting military veterans and their spouses. Here is General Life and Arts Reporter Maya Thakur with the story. 

How are you doing today Maya?

Maya Thakur: I’m good, thanks. How are you?

Joseph: Doing good, thank you for asking. So, What is the Veteran Spouse Network?

Maya: So the Veteran Spouse Network is a program at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work within the Institute for Military and Veteran Family Wellness. So it facilitates a network of peer support community engagement for military and veteran spouses, as well as committed partners and it provides them both a support network and then opportunities to connect with helpful resources.

Joseph: What are some of the struggles that military spouses tend to undergo?

Maya Thakur: Military and veteran spouses undergo very unique challenges. For the spouses and committed partners of active military members, there is you know, the constant moving and, you know, getting used to, you know, building a routine without, without your partner there.

For veteran spouses, PTSD is very common, which can manifest, you know, in hypervigilance, avoiding certain areas that might trigger them, in numbing, sometimes with unhealthy behaviors. It can also, you know, cause mood swings there can be, you know, completely unexpected events that trigger their PTSD.

It can happen, you know, at any time. Even if you’re going to a grocery store or at the movies, a sight, a sound, or smell, anything can trigger their PTSD, so that can be difficult. And then there’s also moral injury where the veteran, you know, may have done something that they don’t agree with morally or ethically, uh, during the course of their service, so they have to come to terms with that.

And then there’s also just the you know, practical logistical concerns of employment. A lot of our veterans may have felt like they lost their purpose by not serving in the military anymore, or they have you know, what’s called like a cottage cheese resume where they don’t have the typical employment background that someone, that other applicants might.

So there are a lot of, a lot of challenges for military and veterans bosses.

Joseph: And so, with that being said, how does the Veteran Spouse Network support families that are impacted by the military service?

Maya: Yeah, so the Veteran Spouse Network offers events and trainings, a variety of different events and trainings, some on, you know, veteran mental health and PTSD, some on suicide prevention and, you know, removing access to lethal means.

And then some on child trauma because you know, the children in the family are also significantly affected by one of their parents being a veteran. But it also offers a support network and a community for these veteran spouses which is really important. Incredibly important because there are these challenges and experiences that they go to that are very unique to being a military or veteran spouse.

And by having that community of people who have gone through similar experiences, who understand the experiences that they are going through, it can be incredibly supportive and beneficial.

Joseph: Tell me more about the event that the network held on August 2.

Maya: So on August 2, the Veterans Spouse Network held an all day mental health first aid training as well as a suicide prevention and calm conversations on access to lethal means training.

So for the mental health first aid training, it’s for military service members, veterans their families, their spouses, their committed partners. And it teaches these participants how to recognize, you know, the signs and symptoms of a potential mental health challenge. It teaches them how to listen non judgmentally how, and it also provides, you know, options for resources for professional support and services. 

So it really focuses on, you know, recognizing the signs and symptoms of a mental health challenge, how to you know, support their partner who might be going, undergoing a mental health challenge, connect their partner with resources, while taking into consideration military culture and the unique experiences that veterans and military service members have experienced.

Joseph: One of the things that in the story that you said that the network prioritizes is non judgmental listening. Can you tell me a bit more what they mean about that?

Maya: Ashley Craig, the facilitator of the training used the metaphor of being a tree, meaning she was here, she was listening you know, taking it all in and not she talked about essentially, understanding what the goal of the conversation was.

In some, in some conversations, the goal is just, you know, the veteran, or a military service member just wants to be listened to, just want someone to listen to them talk and discuss their experiences,  sort of their feelings. And in other situations, they, might want to, you know, look at the problem, see what challenges they’re facing and see how the veteran and their partner can address that problem together.

So she talked a lot about sort of channel checking, checking whether the veteran just wanted to be listened to or whether to solve the problem. 

Joseph: Well, that was general life and art supporter, Maya Thacker. Thank you so much for joining me here today.

Thank you for joining us for this edition of The Texan Recap for Monday, August 12. The Texan Recap is a production of The Daily Texan Audio Department. If you liked this episode, make sure to subscribe to The Daily Texan on your streaming platform of choice and follow us on Twitter @texanaudio. This episode was hosted and edited by me, Joseph Sweeney. Special thanks to Tyler Pullum and Maya Thakur for some of the reporting featured in this episode. To read the news stories in this episode or see more from the Texan, head on over to thedailytexan.com. Thank you for listening.