Dallas Black Clergy look for answers after report of 'harsh' conditions at juvenile justice center

DALLAS - Following a whistleblower report of harsh conditions for juveniles at the Henry Wade Justice Center in Dallas, the Dallas Black Clergy is pressing for answers.

The group called an emergency press conference on Sunday to discuss conditions that the group calls "inhumane and harsh."

"The building behind us is supposed to be a place of rehabilitation instead it’s a place of trauma," Rev. Dr.  Michael W. Waters.
                     
Members of the Dallas Black Clergy want to meet with the entire Dallas County Juvenile Board and discuss with the conditions at the Henry Wade Justice Center.

"We want to meet with you, because we want to be sure that our children stop being dropped and start being cared for with dignity and humanity. We will not settle for anything less," said Rev. Dr. Irie Session.

People who spent time in the justice center, like Shavondra Smith, were also at the press conference to share their experience.

Smith, now 36, was in and out of the justice center from the time she was 13 to 17 years old.

"We were locked in our cells multiple times. Five of us, I know, tried to commit suicide at the same time because we were put on lock down," said Smith.  

Another woman, who did not want to share her first name, spent three and a had months inside the center when she was 14 years old.

She's now 20 and told FOX 4 she's still traumatized by that time in her life.

"There’s insects coming out of the shower room. There’s hair, mold on the wall, it is disgusting," she said. "For us to share the same experience and don’t even know each other, we just met, had the same exact experience. We’re not lying, and we deserve to be heard, and these babies have a voice, and they do not deserve to be locked down like a caged animal."

Last year, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department launched a criminal investigation into allegations of abuse and neglect at the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center.

Darryl Beatty, the executive director of the Dallas County Juvenile Board, told FOX 4's Shaun Rabb in a report last July that he wanted to know if there is abuse or neglect going on inside the center.

"We welcome the fact that TJJD is coming in and looking. Matter of fact, I asked for them to do an audit early so we can look and see what we need to do as far as reforms or anything that we need to prepare to make sure we take care of kids in the best interest of our community,"  Beatty said at the time.

Beatty sent a statement to FOX 4 on Sunday night in response to the news conference.

"Based on the events of today involving our Detention Center, I immediately responded by doing a walk-through of the Center accompanied by our Assistant Director.  The conditions being reported and described in no way reflect what I saw tonight nor what I have seen in recent months.  I specifically observed all pods to be clean and youth engaged in watching television," he wrote.

The Dallas Black Clergy said in today's press conference that they hope to meet with members of the juvenile board in July ahead of the Board's scheduled meeting in August.