AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ A state audit reveals the Texas Youth Commission failed to follow competitive-bidding laws in awarding some contracts.
It also shows TYC spent money on two lockups that were supposed to be closed and didn’t ensure that mistreatment allegations were investigated quickly enough.
The State Auditor’s Office reports that juvenile prison system officials investigated alleged mistreatment, strengthened its security, monitored youths and made progress in its management. But it also says TYC falls short in some areas.
Scrutiny of the TYC has been intense since early 2007, when a sex abuse scandal broke that resulted in a housecleaning of most top management.
The Texas House this week approved maintaining the Texas Youth Commission as a separate entity until at least 2021. That contradicts a Senate proposal to roll the state’s juvenile prison system in with the juvenile probation system.