It Costs $99K Per Year To Lock Up A Youth In Texas

We are spending $99,000 per year per incarcerated youth in Texas. It's a 66% jump since 2006 although the juvenile inmate population has decreased by almost half in two years. How much does it cost Texas per year to educate these same youth if they are in public school? I don't know, but I'll try to find out. In February 2008, there were 4100 employees per 2400 incarcerated youths. In 2007, there were 4600 employees per 4100 incarcerated youths. Texas spends $17,337 per each incarcerated adult. (2008 figures) This seems to be the right response:

"It's ridiculous," said state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee and an author of the 2007 reforms that were prompted by the abuse scandal. "They've got twice as many correctional officers as they need. ... They've got a big, expensive central office staff they don't need. ... And they're just trying to protect their turf and bureaucracy."

In the 2007 Legislative Session, TYC reforms were passed because of an abuse scandal. It looks like there needs to be reforms this year to bring the bureaucracy under control.