Investigation into Dallas County Juvenile Department finds falsification of documents, other misconduct
DALLAS COUNTY, Texas - The anticipated Office of Inspector General report on the Dallas County Juvenile Department was made public on Monday.
The report covered a six-month window from January to June 2023.
It found a program called the Special Needs Unit that operated without policy or procedure. The practice allowed the facility to circumvent state standards.
Multiple juveniles were confined to their rooms, sometimes 24 hours a day, without access to education, exercise or showers.
The result was systematic neglect that staff, educators and administrators past and present were aware of.
Investigators wrote that former director Darryl Beatty had ample opportunity to take corrective action.
"The most troubling of the report is that youth were held for long periods of time, sometimes days in their rooms and regardless of whether that was a product of the pandemic, the COVID crisis, it was a practice that should have been discontinued immediately when staffing levels actually went up," said Mike Griffiths, the interim director of the Dallas County Juvenile Department.
Inspectors found what could be criminal: Pervasive falsification of documents as it related to observation checks. By state law, those must happen every 15 minutes overnight when residents are in rooms. The checks did not happen.
The state found there was an intentional attempt to conceal the observation checks and school attendance.
"In the course of this investigation and now that the final report has come out, there will certainly be administrative action done of individuals that contributed to this issue," said Griffiths.
The Office of the Inspector General came back in July with another surprise inspection.
Beatty resigned following that inspection.
The interim director says since he returned to take over the role in July, the culture is changing.
"We take this very seriously, and we are in the process of rectifying everything that's in this report," said Griffiths.
The report on the follow-up inspection has not been completed.