The new leader of the Dallas County Juvenile Department says he’s taking steps to have an outside party examine every aspect of the juvenile justice system to restore community trust.
The Dallas County juvenile justice system is undergoing a transformation that many observers say is long overdue.
Rev. Michael Waters is part of a faith community that is shining a light on conditions at the juvenile facility and voicing support for the Dallas County Juvenile Board's thorough review of every aspect of the embattled agency.
“This has been a hard summer for juveniles in the state of Texas,” Waters told the board Monday.
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Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins sits on the nine-member board and said the review is needed.
“We need that top-to-bottom look at all the various processes,” Jenkins said.
Dallas native and former teacher John Fullinwider joined The Dallas Black Clergy in its advocacy.
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“We’ve had a pretty quick impact since we stood in their parking lot about a month ago and had a press conference,” said Fullinwider, an activist and co-founder of Mothers Against Police Brutality. “We need this idea of a top to bottom, independent management and financial review.”
The former director, Darryl Beatty, resigned last month amid allegations of poor, unsanitary, and inhumane conditions at the detention center. Deputy director DeAndra Jones resigned four days ago.
Jenkins told NBC 5 he won’t speak directly about former employees but said the juvenile justice department is slowly improving.
“If you look at what was happening to these kids, obviously some people were responsible for that,” Jenkins said. “From a parent perspective the people that have left thus far, that’s a good thing for your child.”
The most visible sign of personnel change arrived with the new interim director on Aug. 12, a familiar face who addressed the board for the first time this week.
“When any of us walk through the facility you can see things that are improving and things that still need to be addressed,” Griffiths told the board on Monday.
Michael Griffiths oversaw Dallas’ juvenile justice system for 15 years and said his presence now is to help regain the confidence of board members, judges, and the community at large.
Griffiths indicated he would work on presenting plans for a complete outside review of the department by October. The juvenile board would then decide whether to proceed with the effort.
In a more immediate decision, Dallas County Commissioners passed an order to go from handwritten logs at the detention center to electronic monitoring.
“The fact that we couldn’t trust the handwritten logs says a lot about the system as it’s been for years. And so, I think that’s probably a good idea given the state of things,” Fullinwider said.
