AUSTIN, TX—Texas Appleseed has received a grant totaling more than $14,000 from the Texas Bar Foundation to develop and distribute a plain-language booklet to help parents and caregivers better understand their rights as they navigate Texas’ juvenile justice system. Designed for families facing what can be a confusing and overwhelming process, the booklet will explain parents’ and children’s rights at each step, from detention and pre-adjudication proceedings to county detention, court hearings, postadjudication placements, and record relief.
Youth in the juvenile justice system are disproportionately low-income, Black, and Latino, and their families may not know what rights their children have at each stage of the process. Each year, many youth are committed to youth prisons run by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD), and their families often do not know what to expect.
In 2024, following a complaint Texas Appleseed filed with Disability Rights Texas in 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice found that conditions inside TJJD facilities violated the U.S. Constitution, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Youth in TJJD facilities are subject to unnecessary and excessive use of force, including mechanical restraints and OC (pepper) spray. Just this year, youth in the facilities were subjected to total lockdowns that lasted for weeks with little time out of their rooms each day.
The booklet will have a landing page on Texas Appleseed’s website, and a companion flyer with a QR code linking to the booklet will be produced and distributed by mail to juvenile departments, community organizations, and school district personnel.
