Advocates share new demands at juvenile board meeting after executive director resigns

At an emergency meeting Monday of the Dallas County Juvenile Board, community advocates called for a third-party review of the juvenile department and asked for a seat at the table in choosing a new executive director.

The meeting was scheduled Friday, according to the public notice, the same day Darryl Beatty, former executive director of the Dallas County Juvenile Department, resigned. Beatty was under scrutiny regarding alleged conditions at the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center, including kids not being allowed to go outside and spending extended time in solitary confinement.

Multiple community advocates spoke Monday during the public comment portion of the meeting and expressed their concern and frustration about the juvenile detention center.

Michael W. Waters, of the Dallas Black Clergy for Safety, Equity and Justice, pointed to a news conference his organization held three weeks ago asking for meetings with every member of the county juvenile board and said only two members had responded. He made two new demands of the board during his comments, calling for a third-party review of the county’s juvenile department and said community members needed to be involved in selecting the next executive director.

Waters told The Dallas Morning News there is precedent for community involvement in selecting the city and county’s top officials, pointing to the process used to engage residents in the selection of a new police chief.

Two juvenile board members — Dallas County Commissioner Andy Sommerman and Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins — each expressed support for a third-party review of the department after the meeting had adjourned. Sommerman said it was important that an interim executive director comes from outside the juvenile department to be able to provide a fresh perspective and address the issues.

Judge Cheryl Lee Shannon, chair of the board, did not directly respond to the demands in a statement issued to The News, but did say she expects the issues at the detention center to be resolved under a new director.

Beatty resigned four days after the Office of the Inspector General at the Texas Juvenile Justice Department conducted an unannounced inspection of the juvenile detention center. The agency told The News it opened a new investigation Wednesday based on its findings.

The inspector general’s office had already opened a separate investigation into allegations of neglect at the facility last year. A preliminary report found multiple violations at the detention center, but a final report is still pending.

The Black clergy’s news conference three weeks ago expressed frustration with cleanliness, hygiene, limited educational programming and insufficient time outside at the center. Beatty later held his own news conference denying the allegations and saying issues identified in the preliminary report had been addressed.