Dallas Department of Juvenile Justice Director Denies Poor Conditions at Facility

Dallas County juvenile justice officials denied allegations of poor conditions at the facility at a news conference Wednesday and said the Texas Department of Juvenile Justice cleared the facility during an audit last fall.

Darryl Beatty, executive director of the Dallas County Juvenile Department, said allegations of inhumane treatment of inmates at the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center — including that juveniles are held in cells for up to 23 hours a day — are false. DeAndra Jones, deputy director of detention services, said inmates have highly structured daily schedules that include education, indoor and outdoor recreation and cleaning.

Beatty and Jones said the vacancy rate for juvenile supervisors at the facilities was 20 percent, leading to changes in supervision practices. He did not provide details on those changes.

“Despite staff shortages, we are ensuring that youth are spending time outside of their cells in creative ways while ensuring the safety of youth and staff,” Beatty said. “I want to be clear: we take seriously the concerns expressed by our committee regarding the care of juveniles in our detention center. The statements and allegations made against our detention center that youth are subjected to inhumane treatment are categorically false.”

Frank Adler, an attorney representing the Dallas County Juvenile Probation Department, said Beatty and other officials would not answer questions from the media until the ongoing litigation between the county commissioners court and the juvenile justice department is concluded.

Wednesday's conference came after numerous media reports over the past year about poor conditions at the juvenile prison, located at 2600 Lone Star Drive, and after community advocates called on officials Sunday to address those concerns.

Last June, The Dallas Morning News We spoke to several families with children in the facility who were concerned about the juvenile justice center. Issues included a lack of outdoor recreation or even access to the outdoors; inmates being locked in their cells for up to 23 hours a day; a lack of access to daily showers; and a general filthiness in the facility.

Beatty said he and other juvenile justice officials learned of the allegations through media reports last summer and asked the TJJD to inspect the facility. A July 2023 inspection report found that some inmates were held in secure segregation longer than they should have been and that some residents reported not receiving daily showers.

Beatty said the facility subsequently remedied those issues and received a positive audit in September 2023.

The TJJD recordings were obtained by The Dallas Morning News The results of two recent state audits of Henry Wade were presented. The summer 2023 audit found the facility in noncompliance for a wide range of reasons (including improperly placing some inmates in solitary confinement, providing incomplete documentation, and inadequately monitoring suicidal youth), but many of those violations were corrected in subsequent visits.

The 2023 survey showed that five residents reported not taking daily showers. Staff said in the report that understaffing was the cause of the problem, but that it was resolved by staggering shifts. Later documents showed that the inmates each took a shower on a sampling date and that the facility was in compliance, according to the August audit.

An audit in March 2024 found far fewer reported problems. The facility was found to be compliant in many areas, but noncompliant in monitoring moderate-risk suicidal youth. Staff did not monitor these inmates often enough, and the facility was also unable to produce observation sheets for two residents. The report said that decisions about compliance with several other state rules, including those governing segregation practices and inmate disciplinary appeals, could not be made because no segregation or isolation was in effect and no appeals were pending.

Last month, WFAA-TV published a report in which former employees of the juvenile detention center spoke about poor conditions and provided photos showing unclean areas. Officials did not directly address the whistleblower’s photos, but Jones said cleaning was a “major part” of the inmates’ daily routine, which he said also included education provided by Dallas County ISD and indoor and outdoor recreation such as exercise, board games and television time.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said the Commissioners Court issued a subpoena last summer seeking documents documenting the facility’s operations, which juvenile justice officials have refused to release. Jenkins said the records must be reviewed because an audit only shows conditions for a given day at a given time, while records — such as sheets that show when an inmate enters and leaves his cell — paint a more complete picture of how the jail operates.

Jenkins said juvenile justice officials are currently suing commissioners court after not receiving a pay raise like the rest of the county.

“The majority of the judges have found that these people are not entitled to a pay raise,” Jenkins said. “They are still receiving the same pay they were receiving at the beginning of this crisis.”

Jenkins said he was not confident about the conditions at the juvenile prison.

“I won't be confident until someone other than the people who run this department looks at the data and confirms that what they're saying is true,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins also expressed concerns about juveniles being held at the facility for nonviolent or minor offenses, such as fighting at school or possession of marijuana or alcohol. Jenkins said incarceration is not the appropriate place to address those issues.

The Rev. Michael W. Waters, founder of Abundant Life AME Church, was one of the community advocates who spoke about the facility Sunday. He said after Wednesday’s conference that nothing officials have said has allayed community concerns about alleged problems at the facility and called on officials to release documentation requested by the county commissioners court.

“Many parents and children, not just today but over the last several decades, have expressed concerns about their treatment and their experience at Henry Wade, and unfortunately, the leadership continues to deny any mistreatment,” Waters said. “Either they are delusional or they are deceitful. There is no in-between. Either they have no idea how horrific the conditions are, or they do, and they are trying to do everything in their power to keep the community at large from knowing.”