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Mental health and school finance implicated in TYC policies

Two otherwise unrelated stories about the Texas Youth Commission show how interconnected the agency and its facilities are at a fundamental level both with other social service agencies and the communities they serve.First, the Texas Observer blog wonders if the Texas Youth Commission can ever be fixed as long as it remains a dumping ground for the failures of schools and the indigent mental health system.Perhaps the agency has been so hard to rehabilitate because its problems extend beyond a handful of troubled facilities or a flawed approach to juvenile justice. Mental health advocates blame public officials? failure to recognize the importance of early intervention programs within the mental health system statewide as a key culprit. ?If we addressed these problems early on, with community and school-based programs, these kids wouldn?t end up at TYC,? says Jodie Smith, public policy director of Texans Care for Children...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on June 24, 2008 (boomark / email).