Certified or Rehabilitated

I was up late watching T.V. and avoiding schoolwork last week when a Ken Burns documentary about The Central Park Five came on.  Although, these kids were eventually found to be innocent and only one served time in an adult prison (Rikers Island), it got me wondering about the treatment of juvenile offenders in Texas and whether or not they were housed with, and treated as adult offenders.
I found out that juvenile judges in Texas, can transfer youths 14 and older to adult criminal court in a process they call "certification," for trial and punishment of felony offenses.  This means that children can be transferred to these adult facilities before they have been found guilty.
 As an alternative to the certification process, these juveniles charged with violent and non-violent crimes can be placed with Texas Youth Commission with a determinate sentence, whereas a judge can consider the individual circumstances of the case and evaluate their progress at age 19.  The determinate sentence with the TYC ranges from 40 years to 10 years and provides the kids with rehabilitation programs and much needed educational opportunities.  After this period of evaluation and education the young adults can then be transferred to adult facilities or released.  This sounds ideal but guidelines need to be put in place for the certified juveniles that are then transferred to adult jails.
Most of these kids have committed violent crimes but 72% have no prior violent crime history.  They often come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds or abusive homes.   Many  lack supervision, mental health care and education but do have access to guns.  These kids need to have the opportunity for rehabilitation and they need protection from violent adult offenders.  In an attempt to separate certified juveniles from the adult population, many are put into solitary confinement and denied the use of services provided to other prisoners.  These kids are at high risk for suicide.  Research shows that youths in adult jails are 36 times more likely to commit suicide and 500 times more likely to be sexually abused and raped than if they were in a juvenile facility.
Sending juveniles to adult jails seems like a lose-lose situation to me.  Research done by the Center for Disease Control showed that "Transfer of juveniles to the adult criminal justice systems generally results in increased rather than decreased subsequent violence, compared with violence among juveniles retained in the juvenile justice system."  It seems counterproductive to send these kids who desperately need adult guidance to facilities where they are likely to be raped and abused by adults.
 Senate Bill 1209 was passed in September 2011 by the 82nd legislature which gives judges the option of sending certified youth to juvenile detention centers where they are housed with their peers and given the appropriate services, educational programs, and care they need.  This is progress but not enough is being done to protect these kids, some of which have not been convicted.  TDCJ needs to develop a standard procedure for dealing with the worst and most violent offenders vs. the ones who can be rehabilitated if given the opportunity.