Opinion ID: 2829153
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: The Court provides a short factual background, but there are additional pertinent facts that evidence B.W.’s need for the treatment and rehabilitation that the juvenile court ordered. Petitioner B.W. was born in April 1993 and has a long and sad history of delinquent behavior. In 2004, the State placed B.W. in CPS custody. Described by her caseworker as “violent” and a “chronic runaway,” B.W. was transferred among three CPS placements in less than a year. In October 2005, she ran away from her third placement at a group home facility. B.W. was missing until January 12, 2007, when an undercover police officer arrested her for criminal prostitution—offering to engage in oral sex with him for twenty dollars. B.W. claimed to be nineteen years old, and the authorities mistook her for an adult. Upon discovering she was thirteen, the State dismissed the case against her in the adult, criminal system and re-filed it in the civil, juvenile system, in which adjudications focus more on rehabilitation of delinquency rather than prosecution for crimes. See Tex. Fam. Code § 51.13(a); see also Hidalgo v. State , 983 S.W.2d 746, 754 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999) (“The philosophy was that, whenever possible, children should be protected and rehabilitated rather than subjected to the harshness of the criminal system because children, all children are worth redeeming.” ( citations and quotations omitted)). B.W.’s probation report and psychological evaluation were admitted into evidence during her juvenile proceedings. Her CPS caseworker warned in the probation report that B.W. “will run[ ]away if returned to CPS custody.” The caseworker described two particularly disturbing, violent incidents: one in which B.W. pulled a knife on her principal and threatened to kill him, and another where she repeatedly bashed a classmate’s head into the ground until it was bloody. Her probation report also revealed a history of legal violations: evading arrest, running away, disrupting school, assaulting another person causing bodily injury, and possessing a controlled substance. B.W. met with a state psychologist after her arrest. During discussions with that psychologist, she maintained that she was being mistaken for someone else. She did, however, chronicle a troubled past that included living with a thirty-two-year-old man, untreated substance abuse problems, allegations of abuse, and academic difficulties. The psychologist’s report concluded that B.W. is a troubled minor who has encountered much adversity at a young age, but also stressed that the veracity of B.W.’s report should be “viewed with caution given that numerous statements [she] made [were] inconsistent with probation records.” B.W. pled “true” to allegations of prostitution in the juvenile court, and the juvenile judge concluded that B.W. engaged in delinquent conduct and ordered, among other things, that B.W. (1) was in need of rehabilitation, (2) should be placed in the Chief Juvenile Probation Officer’s custody, and (3) should participate in individual counseling and have HIV Awareness/Drug Assessment with an educational specialist. 1 The juvenile judge denied B.W.’s motion for new trial, but granted her permission to appeal. The court of appeals affirmed.