A spokesperson for the Texas Youth Commission has confirmed that the Al Price State Juvenile Correctional Facility in Beaumont is set to close.
Commission spokesperson Jim Hurley says the board voted today to close the unit, along with 2 other facilities.
The other two units are the Crocket State School, in Crockett, and the Ron Jackson Unit II in Brownwood.
Hurley says 100 youth housed at the Al Price Unit will begin moving in July and the facility must be closed by the end of August.
The TYC says no offenders will be given parole will occur simply because of facility closure and the affected staff will be given opportunities to transfer to similar positions at other TYC facilities where job vacancies exist.
In a press release, TYC Board Chairman Scott Fisher says, "This was an extremely difficult decision because each of our facilities, including dedicated staff and community volunteers, does an excellent job of rehabilitating youth. Various factors require that these changes be made, and we will work to ensure these transitions are as seamless as possible in order to continue ensuring public safety and positive outcomes for the youth in our system."
The Board cited the agency's budget reduction of $116.9 million for the next biennium, along with a significantly reduced youth population, as key factors in the decision to close the facilities. An additional 50 positions in the agency's central office, and 73 positions in the regional and parole offices will also be eliminated.
State Representative Joe Deshotel released a statement saying, "I am disappointed to learn that the Al Price State Juvenile Correctional Facility will be closing its doors. This unit of the Texas Youth Commission provided education, psychological services, recreational programming and health care services to our troubled youth as well as jobs in our local community for 16 years."
"After the safe relocation of juveniles from this institution, my concern extends to the newly unemployed who could benefit from swift action to ensure access to unemployment benefits and employment opportunities. I will work with state leaders to help create a transition to employment while minimizing the ripple effect unemployment often has on our community."
"I have been in touch with the Texas Work Force Commission in Austin and the local Workforce Solutions Center. They will be deploying a Rapid Response Unit to the Al Price Facility on Monday morning. The unit will provide: employment orientation, unemployment insurance benefits information, the do's and don't when receiving unemployment, Workforce Center activities and assistance and Labor Market information."
"TYC is also discussing the possibility of doing a mass unemployment filing with TWC in order to reduce the number of steps in the process of filing for benefits. These situations often cause considerable stress, therefore TYC has agreed to send out members of their Employment Assistance Program to the Al Price Facility in order to help employees deal with the psychological challenges that accompany job lose." - Representative Joe Deshotel
