No matter how you cut it, things are NOT getting better on our fair campus.  Promised and/or implied changes have not taken hold, and the situation here continues to disintergrate by the day.  Why, just recently...



* 15 kids were referred off of dorm 7 alone one night; an untold number also were taken from dorm 5.  At least 20 staff were called to help with the... the... what do you call it -- RIOT??  That must have meant that the REST of the dorms were being held down by no more than one staff per side -- NOT a good idea, let alone legal.  Pepper spray was NOT authorized, and when the kids seem to know it's not gonna be used they go right ahead and get as apeshit as they want.  A number of staff were kicked.  I saw blood, heard lots of screaming and it was just disgusting.  What were the consquences for these leetle hoodlums?  Little to nothing much, I'd bet.  Oh... and yet again it was a case of "ALL THE MEN TO THE BACK AREA!" to take care of the situation.  The ladies got to stay in the front area and look on while the guys got the privilege of doing the hard work.  Just dandy.  Sure would be nice to buck and say "Hell no, let the women do it for a change!" 



*  The vending machine in the rec room was broken loose from the floor, knocked down, and kids ate up all the snacks they could until they were stopped -- how illegal is THAT?  I used to own and operate a vending machine business, and know what it feels like to have some punk bust up my $5000 machine to get to a free 50 cent candy bar... and am here to tell you it's not pleasant.  Again -- what consequences were meted out?

*  I hear that recently out of a total night staff of 32 JCO's, fully HALF had to stay over for another 4 hours a while back and of the others that didn't stay, all but four or so had to come in at 6 PM that night.  What's going on here??!  And what's the deal when ALL FOUR 6-2 staff on a certain dorm call in for the next morning -- all before 10PM the night before?  Is this insubordination or stupidity or frustration or WHAT?  Methinks people are SICK AND TIRED of all the 12's they have to work, especially on shifts other than the one's they're used to.  But oh, when was the last time you heard of a staff used to working 6-2 or 2-10 being told they had to work a 10-6?  Never?  I thought so, and rest my case.  As usual, 10-6 staff are the first to get screwed.




*  What Admin needs to do -- what they ALWAYS SHOULD HAVE DONE -- is LISTEN TO THE JCO'S who are working on the sharp tip of the spear here, and try to RESPOND to their frustrations and problems.  It's called "dialogue" and it works wonders for bringing about positive changes.  We're seeing increased violence on campus, increased anger towards youth and fellow staff, and more and more people calling in... more ALL THE TIME.  The time when TYC will cease to exist and TJJD comes into being is very short now -- can we even HOPE for positive changes with the new Agency?  Time will tell.  Until then, it's all just hot air from Admin and Austin going nowhere.  Yadda, yadda, yadda.