TYC Scandal: Conservator Wants Out

It should come as no surprise that Texas Youth Commission Conservator Ed Owens is ready to jump off the sinking ship he boarded some months ago, after his abysmal failure to fully right the agency:

Conservator Ed Owens, whom Perry appointed June 1, said in a Monday interview that he’s ready to be replaced.

“I’m a short-timer, a real short-timer,” he said. “I’m asking to be relieved as conservator. Sooner rather than later.”

By the end of the month? “I think sooner.”

By the end of the week? “That’s about right.”

It’s quite interesting that Owens announces he wants to abandon ship in advance of the publication of a 25-page report he’s authored, which is expected to be made public today–and before a House Corrections Committee meeting on Wednesday.

Why is it interesting? Because his reign as conservator has been a total failure as he’s failed to correct some of the worst problems at the agency. And, if his 25-page report is any kind of an honest assessment of his tenure with the TYC, then he surely realizes his resignation will be called for if he doesn’t offer it.

Of course, Owens blames the nature of the conservatorship for TYC’s inability to reform quickly:

Owens’ report states that a transformation of the agency’s management infrastructure, supervision, policies and organizational culture are well under way and that “not until the removal of the conservatorship will the agency be able to become whole.”

That’s quite ironic, given that the conservatorship was actually supposed to be the tool that repaired many of these problems.

Perhaps it’s time for the Governor and the Executive Branch to bring in some experts who haven’t spent a lifetime working in the Texas prison system to lead the troubled TYC.

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