Texas youth lockups are beset by abuse and mistreatment of children, Justice Department report says

Youth lockups in Texas remain beset by sexual abuse, excessive use of pepper spray and other mistreatment including the prolonged isolation of children in their cells, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday in a scathing report that accused the state of violating the constitutional rights of hundreds of juveniles in custody.

The report comes three years after the department launched a federal investigation into alleged widespread abuse and harsh practices within the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, which takes in hundreds of young people every year.

Staff in the detention centers have engaged in sexual acts with children, kept some for stretches of 17 to 22 hours of isolation in their cells and pepper sprayed children in their faces, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kristin Clarke said in releasing the report.

Clarke also noted that about 80 per cent of Texas children in the lockups are Black or Hispanic.

“This is a racial justice issue,” she said. “Our children deserve to be protected from harm and access to essential services.”

In a statement, the state juvenile justice department said it has a “zero-tolerance” policy toward abuse and neglect and had worked closely with federal investigators during their site visit in 2022.

Spokespeople for Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s office did not immediately return emails seeking comment Thursday. The governor’s office said it would cooperate with the federal investigation when it launched.

Mental health concerns, such as suicidal ideation and self-harm, were ignored while children were routinely punished for their behavior, according to the federal report. The facilities’ inability to address or treat these issues were a violation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, officials said during the announcement.

The Justice Department said in the report that it looks forward to cooperating with the state to address the violations while also raising the potential of a federal lawsuit.

In 2021, the Justice Department opened an investigation into Texas’ five juvenile facilities after advocates filed a complaint.

Texas is not the only state facing federal investigations by the government, or lawsuits from former incarcerated children over harsh conditions in youth lockups. Clark announced in May a federal probe of conditions in Kentucky’s youth detention centers after a state report found problems with use of force and isolation techniques. Lawsuits have been filed this year in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey alleging harsh treatment of incarcerated children.