DALLAS – Former employees say inmates at a juvenile correctional center in Dallas are not allowed to go outside for months on end.
The Lyle B. Medlock Youth Treatment Center houses teenage boys who have committed offenses requiring secure placement. The inmates are supposed to receive counseling, life-skills training, drug education and outdoor recreation at the facility.
But former guards, probation officers and families of incarcerated teens tell the Dallas Morning News that the center rarely allows boys outside.
Gabriela Garza is a former probation officer. She says she saw the boys taken outside once in her six months there.
A state-funded watchdog says it's repeatedly warned the head of the Dallas County Juvenile Department, Terry Smith, about the lack of outdoor time. Smith says she didn't see the agency's complaints.
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Information from: The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com
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