Are ya with us?

We all know The Big Change-uh-oh-over occurs in a couple days... TYC will get replaced with TJJD -- but will anything actually CHANGE for the better in regards to our jobs and work environments?  Think not?  I don't think so, either!

I'm not alone, and know of at least a few other JCO's who are ready, willing, and (depending on schedules) able to carpool a road trip to Austin and request an audience with The Powers That Be -- who ever they will be -- to voice our concerns in regards to the illegal and unsafe practices being perpetuated on campus.  We're ready for a change... NOW.  We don't have the luxury of doing nothing and just hoping this sucking chest wound will heal on its own.  Bandaids will NOT be enough at this point.   If the movers and shakers of policy and procedure at Austin don't KNOW what is going on at Giddings, they need to be informed ASAP.  The best way to do that is to get together with as many regular JCO staff as possible and LET THEM KNOW, live and in person. 




Hate to sound so pessimistic here, but the damn house is on fire, you know?  What ELSE has go wrong on campus before someone eventually drops dead to make the point that conditions are NOT the rosy picture being depicted from The Hill and beyond??  Hope things can be addressed before that happens, and figure we'll have the best chance of getting things done if we appear en masse at Headquarters and speak with a common voice to the new directors... again, I say... things are so out of hand that if we DON'T, situations will only soon get even worse. 

Let's get someone who's worked here over 20 years tell the bosses that the recent RIOT (there's simply no other word to describe it, right?) in the cafeteria was the WORST scene of mass disruption they've EVER SEEN.  Let's let them know that the kids are taking gang related violence to new levels, breaking windows/dorm furniture/etc, openly tattooing themselves, and expressing their frustrations  and misplaced anger in other antisocial ways.   The Brass NEEDS TO KNOW we are understaffed, scared, have no resources to discpline the kids, and are experiencing a huge increase in absenteeism, turnover, and FMLA copping out... and that the JCO 6's have absconded their dorm responsibility with apparently no consequences whatsoever.  While we're at it, we could bring up the indefensible food/toys/entertainment contraband bribery of the case workers and program managers, and how the notion of any meaningful "treatment" for the youth is nothing more than a sad, sad JOKE. 

"The System is BROKEN and needs FIXING"... what part of that do ya think they can't understand?



Keep your eyes peeled, and don't be surprised if you see a carpool sign-up sheet appearing soon on a dorm near you.  Is it our right to petition for better working conditions?  HELL YES!!  The time has come to shit or get off the pot, as the old saying goes - or  - to give up, roll over, and play dead.  Or maybe die for REAL.  Are we ready to teach the folks in Austin some new tricks?  Only one way to find out... AUSTIN, HERE WE COME!!