How are release decisions being made right now? Are youth completing the program (A4B4C4) or are they just released automatically when their minimum lengths of stay are complete?

The records of youth past their MLOS are currently being reviewed by an interim panel of TYC central office staff appointed by Acting Executive Director Dimitria Pope on August 15, 2007. The panel includes an attorney, a treatment specialist and a program specialist. A computer-generated list of indeterminate sentence youth that have exceeded the assigned minimum length of stay was generated on August 8, 2007, and any youth not already scheduled for release are being reviewed by a three-member panel. The panel members extract information concerning each youth from the agency’s data system, contact the institution for any needed additional information, and then meet to discuss each youth and make a determination concerning the youth’s release. Youth are still earning phases, but they are no longer the chief factor when determining whether a youth will be released or have his stay extended. The panel members have thus far instructed that nine youth be released, extended the stay of ...  more