According to a report published Sunday in The Dallas Morning News, companies running private juvenile facilities in Texas have faced lawsuits in other states and had facilities closed after investigators uncovered mismanagement and abuse of juvenile inmates.
"They are a much under-examined problem in the TYC system," said Scott Medlock, an attorney for the Texas Civil Rights Project.
Among the findings uncovered by the newspaper:
- GEO Group Inc., which runs Texas' largest private juvenile prison in Coke County, had facilities closed in two other states because of inadequate care of inmates and abuse allegations. The company also faced a 2000 lawsuit brought by the U.S. Justice Department that was later settled.
- Associated Marine Institutes, which runs facilities in San Antonio and Los Fresnos, had an Arkansas contract canceled. Former employees had testified that juveniles in the nonprofit's youth camps were sometimes shackled, left naked on the ground in sleeping bags and given a plastic bucket to use as a toilet.
- Cornerstone Programs Corp., which manages a private juvenile prison in West Texas, closed one of its Montana facilities after state officials there cited the company for violations including neglect and failure to report child abuse.
About 450 juveniles inmates in Texas are housed by 13 private operators. The TYC spent $17 million last year doing business with private contractors.
