Community activists sound the alarm on Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center: "House of horrors"

DALLAS — Members of the Dallas Black Clergy and other supporters called for change Sunday afternoon after allegations of unsanitary and inhumane conditions inside the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center.

"It's time to change the system," said community activist Rev. Dr. George Mason. "It's time to protect our kids. We aren't asking for the Henry Wade to be turned over to the Ritz Carlton hotels. We are simply asking for an end to the neglect, squalor and callousness that the current conditions reflect."

Dallas clergy members are demanding change after repeated claims of mistreatment inside the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center.

Allegations include not being allowed to shower, unreasonable amounts of time spent in solitary confinement and more.

"These young people are not prisoners of war, they are our children, but the system was designed for whatever reason to break their hearts, to crush their spirits, before they have an opportunity to begin life," said Rev. Dr. Michael W. Waters. "This is a house of horrors and it is horrible for elected officials to look children, their families and their attorneys in the eye and to suggest that what is happening to them is not taking place."

"I'm still dealing with the humiliation of laying in my own menstrual blood," said a young woman afraid to be identified by name. She was a first-time offender at the center and says she's still traumatized. "Being locked down like an animal, worse than an animal, animals they get to go outside, the time I was here, I didn't get to go outside ... I was here for three and a half months."

In 2023, Dallas County's District Attorney's Office said it would act immediately on recommendations to help get kids out of detention, especially for lower-level offenses.

Darryl Beatty, the Executive Director and Chief Juvenile Probation Officer for the Dallas County Juvenile Department said he walked through the detention center after the accusations, telling CBS News Texas the conditions of the Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center are not now or were never inhumane, adding that the detention center is in compliance with state standards.

"Based on the events of today involving our Detention Center, I immediately responded by doing a walk-through of the Center accompanied by our Assistant Director," said Beatty. "The conditions being reported and described in no way reflect what I saw tonight nor what I have seen in recent months. I specifically observed all pods to be clean and youth engaged in watching television."

Beatty said much of the information being reported is taken out of context.

"I categorically deny that the conditions of the Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center are now or were ever inhumane.  Specifically, current reports focus on findings from a July 2023 Texas Juvenile Justice Department audit that I requested. At the conclusion of that Audit, I immediately took steps to bring our Detention Center into compliance with State Standards. We continue to be in compliance as evidenced by an April 2024 Texas Juvenile Justice Department audit which found no violations indicating poor living conditions."

Beatty said he plans to hold a press conference in the next few days to provide specific details of the proactive steps the Juvenile Probation Department has implemented to address staffing shortages and reduce negative impacts on youth.

"I want to see justice and we'll be out here every day if we have to," Shavondra Smith said. "That's what I want to see. Our children have help."

Smith says 20 years after she spent her teen years at the detention center, little has changed. She wants to help create more pathways to safe rehabilitation:

"What I want to see is our kids get help, our kids get access to emotional intelligence, our kids get access to things to things other than juvenile," Smith said.

CBS News Texas reached out to various Dallas County officials, including the members of the Juvenile Justice Board and the District Attorney's Office.

The next meeting of the Juvenile Justice Board will happen later this summer.