Parents with children held at the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center in Dallas, Texas, have alleged that their children are being neglected by staff. For The Dallas Morning News, reporter Josephine Peterson interviewed multiple families about their experiences with the center. A report released in March 2023 by Evident Change (formerly the National Council on Crime & Delinquency and the Children’s Research Center) found that Dallas County was incarcerating minors for months longer than national recommendations and issuing harsher judgements than some comparable counties in Texas.
The parents interviewed by The Dallas Morning News raised even more serious concerns: that children are being left in cells for excessive amounts of time and aren’t receiving sufficient food or medical care. According to The News, many of the interviewed parents reported their children spending as many as 22 hours per day isolated in their cell at the facility. While facilities are required to provide an outdoor area, Texas state standards do not require that children get time outside while detained; Adults on death row in the state get at least one hour a week of outdoor time. Read the full story here.