Final blog assignment

TEXAS YOUTH COMMISSION UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR SEX-ABUSE AND FAILURE TO TAKE ACTION

The Texas Youth Commission, which is based out of Austin, Texas, and is responsible for fifteen institutions and nine halfway houses throughout Texas describes in their mission statement their goal is “to protect the public, and control the commission of unlawful acts by youth committed to the agency by confining them under conditions that ensure their basic healthcare and emphasize their positive development, accountability for their conduct and discipline training.” Recently, however, TYC has been the target of several allegations involving sexual abuse and sexual acts committed by staffers and involving the youth at the various facilities throughout Texas.

Emily Ramshaw of the Dallas Morning News online sector reported on May 1, 2007, that the “former director of juvenile corrections with Texas Youth Commissions has been fired for her failure to take appropriate action against a school superintendent accused of sexually abusing inmates;” it was reported that Lydia Barnard had several chances to do something about the accusations, but she did not. Barnard was the former superintendent at the West Texas, San Saba School. Barnard was adamant about the hiring of Ray Brookins in West Texas, though there were already rumored allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct involving Brookins.
"Ex-TYC offical fired for inaction" by Emily Ramshaw of Dallasnews.com

This story was published on the Dallas Morning News website no doubt as a follow-up to the several complaints received against Texas Youth Commission and the various youth correctional centers around Texas. Many complaints were made against staffers in the facilities and their partaking in various sexual acts, including sexual abuse with inmates. Many have questioned Governor Rick Perry’s lack of action concerning TYC, and have sent various emails and letters suggesting a revamp of the various facilities. This is the latest information on “investigative series: abuse scandal rocks TYC” as the Dallas Morning News puts it. Dallasnews.com is not surprisingly repetitive in using phrases such as “sexual abuse scandal” many times throughout the small article.

On the Texas Youth Commission’s main website, under the commission's logo, is a phone number for a hotline that you can call for “alleged wrongdoings.” There is a link on the main page to click on where it allows you to look at the company’s most recent press releases, however, the most recent press release is dated March 16, 2007. One press release the Texas Youth Commission placed up on their website was dated March 6, 2007, and gave information about the “TYC Youth Abuse Hotline,” encouraging those youth who suffer abuse within the facilities, or anyone else hearing about abuse allegations to call the hotline, which was created by the TYC Acting Executive Director, Ed Owens. In this specific press release, the word “sex” or any variation is mentioned zero times; instead terms such as “mistreatment of youth,” and “suspected abuse” are used.
Upon placing “Lydia Barnard” under the website’s search, very old articles from 2001 came up, and there was no mention of her being fired or any wrongdoing; in fact the first article that came up was Barnard and Michel Deans “celebrating their recent ACA accreditation.” (ACA is the American Correctional Association.) Click here for this article.

Under the link “major incident tracker” on the main TYC homepage, the latest “major incident” is dated April 25, 2007, when a bunch of youth climbed a roof and caused property damage. It seems sexual abuse allegations and the firing of the former director of juvenile corrections are of less importance to the commission than kids climbing on a roof.

The article from Dallas Morning news online and the Texas Youth Commission’s website obviously very different, and the lack of information that TYC’s website provides shows how inadequate they are at handling such allegations of sexual abuse. They literally have no information whatsoever on the “scandals” that Dallas Morning News reported, which have been numerous. Instead, TYC insisted on putting up a “hotline” to call for “abuse,” probably only because they knew they had to do something about all of the allegations. The organizational response is inadequate for filling in gaps in the news media accounts.

Texas Youth Commission Main Website

Website with all of the recent press releases of TYC

Grassroots vs. Astroturf

A grassroots movement involves ordinary citizens, who, like everyone else, must make political decisions in their everyday lives. People formulate on particular issues to bring about awareness and influence political action and hopefully a change in legislation. Often, politicians try to appeal to voters by seeming interested in various grassroots movements, in an effort to gain support from ordinary citizens. Truthful grassroots movements take the form of lobbying, letter writing, and other forms of activism in order to create some form of awareness.

A grassroots movement can be disguised as astroturf, which began in the 1990s with “fake grass roots were labeled by their opponents with the trademarked name for artificial and rootless grass” (http://www.answers.com/topic/grassroots-democracy).

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Ramaswamy R. Iyer

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
An environmental lawyer and activist and the son of Robert F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has had a longstanding career in dealing with environmental issues around the in the Unites States and around the world. Educated and graduated from Harvard University, and specializing in environmental law, RFK Jr. has dedicated his life and political outlook on environmental issues facing the world today.
More specifically, RFK Jr. seeks ways in which to solve water crises around the world, and more recently, those affecting India; he is part of the umbrella organization Waterkeeper Alliance, who seek to discuss issues of water and promote legal action.*

*(Information about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. obtained from the site: http://www.robertfkennedyjr.com/about.html)

Ramaswamy R. Iyer
Ramaswamy R. Iyer started and organized India’s first ever National Water Policy in 1987, and continues to seek opportunities regarding policy making and activism to bring about awareness to prevailing issues of water depletion in areas around the world, especially in India, where he served as the former Secretary of Water for the nation’s government. Iyer has published a multitude of works on water and dams in relation to people, policy and the quality of life in general.*

*(Information about Ramaswamy R. Iyer obtained from the site:http://www.adb.org/Water/Champions/iyer.asp)

Water Ways 2007 Information

Water Ways 2007 is a three-day conference event that is held at the University of North Texas, discussing prevailing issues of water that are effecting the lives of people all around the world. The program seeks to bring up issues of water resourcefulness and promote ongoing dialogue about water issues with the use of science, art, philosophy and other elements. Throughout the three-day event, guest speakers Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former secretary of water for the government of India will be presenting their positions on what needs to be done about the unavailability of water, especially in India. The event is FREE and is open to the public.