81R2386 MDR-D
By: Ellis S.C.R. No. 1
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Certain persons committed or formerly committed to
facilities operated by the Texas Youth Commission allege that:
(1) the West Texas State School is a facility under the
jurisdiction and direction of the Texas Youth Commission;
(2) recent investigations of the West Texas State
School by the Texas Rangers have reported that school personnel
have engaged in inappropriate and illegal sexual conduct with
persons committed to the facility;
(3) the reported sexual conduct went undiscovered for
a substantial period of time, especially considering the duration
of the incidents and the number of persons involved;
(4) the "Summary Report for Administrative Review"
prepared by an investigator for the Texas Youth Commission makes
the following findings:
(A) information regarding use of pornography on
the job, a recognized risk indicator of sexual misconduct, was not
considered in the selection of certain supervisory staff members;
(B) repeated reports of school staff being alone
with persons committed to the facility after hours were not
properly reported and not addressed with documented supervisory
intervention;
(C) youth and employee grievance programs at the
facility were ineffective and sabotaged, and complaints that were
made off campus were explained away by facility staff when
investigated or the evidence of misconduct was covered up;
(D) complaints regarding the conduct of facility
staff that were reported to program administrators and persons with
authority over the administrators at the facility were not properly
registered to a complaint system or investigated;
(E) certain complaints made about the
unsupervised presence of persons committed to the facility in the
administration building after hours were not properly registered to
a complaint system or assigned for resolution;
(F) supervisory staff of the facility failed to
report the suspicions of abuse regarding other staff members,
screening the reports by conducting personal interviews; and
(G) the standard for reporting suspected abuse,
neglect, and exploitation at West Texas State School was kept
artificially high by the screening of reports at the local level for
evidence of validity before reporting, and staff members who
reported their concerns without evidence were discouraged from
reporting;
(5) similar allegations of physical and sexual abuse
have been made by persons committed to many of the other Texas Youth
Commission facilities in this state; and
(6) the conduct described above was carried out by
state employees during official working hours in state facilities,
involved the use of state resources, and reportedly victimized
youths under the direct supervision of the Texas Youth Commission;
now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That a
person committed or formerly committed to any facility operated by
the Texas Youth Commission, or a parent or guardian of such a
person, with a claim based on the conduct of a state employee in a
facility under the jurisdiction of the Texas Youth Commission is
granted permission to sue the State of Texas and the Texas Youth
Commission, subject to Chapter 107, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, for damages authorized by law; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the executive director of the Texas Youth
Commission and the attorney general be served process as provided
by Section 107.002(a)(3), Civil Practice and Remedies Code.