At TYC, we transformed the way we do business. We opened more than 2,000 beds in the last four years to handle a population that has almost tripled. We instituted regimented 16-hour days, uniforms and standardized movement. All of that seems to resonate with the public that demanded punishment. TYC is now a tough and demanding stay for the state's 5,500 most chronic or violent juvenile offenders.
Commitments are way up.
We're popular, but we have to remember that regardless of what we do in corrections, the public opinion pendulum swings both ways, and that when it swings too far, there is danger of being swept along. We have to develop a mission, know where we want to go, and not get distracted. We have to constantly take the temperature of the public the politicians, kids and staff, but not forget history and past mistakes. We should operate within 10 to 15 degrees of the pendulum's middle. The challenge, not only in Texas but across the United States, is to maintain a balance.