Blind spots: Scandals at Texas agency facilities brought reforms, but state hospitals didn't follow lead

Blind spots: Scandals at Texas agency facilities brought reforms, but state hospitals didn't follow lead

In 2007, stunned by revelations of ongoing sexual abuse of young state wards by the adults charged with caring for them, legislators passed a series of laws that reformed how the Texas Youth Commission kept its teenage offenders safe. The changes included simple adjustments considered best practices in lockups for years: increased use of security cameras to capture and record incidents, independent monitors to field complaints and a separate investigative team to pursue allegations of abuse.