October 21, 2014 3:54 PM

Juvenile justice system faces a new host of challenges following merger of agencies

Some numbers are down but needs are up to ensure long-term success

The new head of the state’s merged juvenile justice agency gave a weak grade to last session’s merger of the Texas Juvenile Probation System and the Texas Youth Commission into the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.

Referrals to the state’s youth facilities are down by 47 percent since 2009. Of the 69,000 juveniles who entered the state’s criminal justice system last year, only 844 ended up in the state’s various permanent facilities. At the same time, TJJD now has oversight of 167 county-run criminal justice programs.

Executive Director David Reilly, appointed to the permanent job as agency head in late summer, said on Monday that he could give the merger no more than a “C.” Some merger elements, like sharing resources between parole and probation, were pluses. But challenges lingered, such as cutting employee turnover and improving the continuum of services to youngsters who enter the criminal justice system.

“It’s passing. It’s passing for sure, I’d say,” Reilly told Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee with oversight of criminal justice. “It’s average. We’ve done some things well. Some other things we haven’t. We continue identifying those things we need to integrate, but that’s going to take a little more time.”

By Kimberly Reeves