HAYSCOUNTYFY 2007 - 2008 COMMUNITY PLANFOR COORDINATION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND RELATED ACTIVITIES

INTRODUCTION

The individuals identified below participated in a meeting to review the Hays Community Plan FY2005-06 and update the information for FY2007-2008. Previous plans were based on several meetings and discussion where brainstorming of community problems, resource development and ideas for solutions took place. The problems identified fell into categories, that are not mutually exclusive and all are exacerbated by the growth of the population in the area, the growth in the number of people living in poverty, and the continued reduction of funding for social services at both the federal and state level.
HaysCounty population continues to grow. The county is located on the IH35 Corridor between Travis and Comal counties, in what is called the Austin – San Antonio Corridor. Population in HaysCounty grew 48% between the 1990 and 2000 Census. It is projected to grow another 48% by the year 2010 (Census Bureau, 2004). An increase in the population means an increase in the amount of violent crimes, as well as crimes against property in the area. Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement are challenged to have enough personnel and resources to stay abreast of the growth in the area. The increase in population is taking place at a time when funding from government for social services is on the decline. Decreased funding for social services also complicates criminal justice and law enforcement activities because individuals living in poverty, victims of abuse, persons with mental illnesses or persons with substance abuse problems are at-risk to carry out acts of assault and aggravated assault because of impaired decision making capacity or desperation.

COMMUNITY PLANNING PARTICIPANTS

Melissa G. Rodriguez, HCWC- Roxanne’s House / Joel Kyrtzen, Tx WorkforceCenter of Hays Co.
Robie Roberson, HCWC – Roxanne’s House / Leslie Stearns, TX WorkforceCenter of Hays
Margaret Buentello, Hays CountyGrants / John Roppolo, HaysCountyDA
Kay Nix, Hays Co DA – Victim Services / John Paul Garza, HaysCountyDA
Leticia Nino, Hays Co DA – Victim Services / Linda Mace, Hays Co DA – Victim Services
Norma Blackwell, CASA of Central Texas / Ben Grijalva, Hays Co DA – Victims Services
Julie Veidt, CTMC / Tonda Owens, Child Protective Services
Tom Morgan, Scheib MHMR / Lori Sims- Greater San Marcos Youth Council
Marvel Maddox, Hays CountyCSCD / Dianne Olson, Hays-Caldwell Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Elva Gonzalez, Hays-Caldwell Women’s Center / Heather Youree, Hays Co DA
Cheryl Smith, Child Protective Services
Patsy Oaks, Kyle Police Department
Jeri Skrocki, Hays County Sheriff’s Office

PLAN SUMMARY

[see attachment at the end of document]

GEOGRAPHIC AREA COVERED

GENERAL STATISTICS AND DEMOGRAPHICS

CountyPopulation Data

1980 Census / 40,594
1990 Census / 65,614
2000 Census / 97,589
2004 Census / 119,359
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2004 Estimate is for July 1.

City Population

1990 / 2000 / 2004
Buda / 1,795 / 2,404 / 3,724
Dripping Springs / 1,033 / 1,548 / 1,664
Kyle / 2,225 / 5,314 / 14,053
MountainCity / 377 / 671 / 703
Niederwald / 233 / 584 / 645
San Marcos / 28,738 / 34,733 / 44,628
Wimberley / 2,403 / 3,797 / 2,724
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2004 Estimate is for July 1.

Age Composition (1990 – 2000)

1990 / 2000 / % Growth
Under 5 years / 4,373 / 6,158 / 40.8%
5 to 9 years / 4,685 / 6,314 / 34.8%
10 to 14 years / 4,373 / 6,893 / 57.6%
15 to 19 years / 7,329 / 9,887 / 34.9%
20 to 24 years / 10,438 / 14,675 / 40.6%
25 to 34 years / 10,425 / 12,973 / 24.4%
35 to 44 years / 9,588 / 14,595 / 52.2%
45 to 54 years / 5,414 / 12,136 / 124.2%
55 to 59 years / 1,950 / 3,675 / 88.5%
60 to 64 years / 1,829 / 2,798 / 53.0%
65 to 74 years / 3,067 / 4,141 / 35.0%
75 to 84 years / 1,587 / 2,448 / 54.3%
85 years and older / 556 / 896 / 61.2%
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census.

Ethnicity Composition (2000)

Anglo / 65.3%
Black / 3.7%
Hispanic / 29.6%
Other / 1.4%
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census.

Labor Force Information (Sept. 2005)

Labor Force / 64,612
Unemployed / 2,874
Unemployment Rate / 4.4%
Source: Texas Workforce Commission

Income Data

2000 / 2003 / %Growth
Average Wage per Job / 23,602 / 26,082 / 10.5%
Source: Texas Workforce Commission

Industry Employment (Q2 2005)

Natural Resources and Mining / 277
Construction / 2,546
Manufacturing / 3,591
Trade, Transportation, and Utilities / 8,041
Information / 1,082
Financial Activities / 1,302
Professional/Business Services / 2,478
Education and Health Services / 2,478
Leisure and Hospitality / 5,103
Other Services / 1,011
Unclassified / 123
Federal Government / 176
State Government / Not Available
Local Government / 5,406
Source: Texas Workforce Commission

AREAS ADDRESSED

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT

Problem Statement Number 1: Criminal justice and law enforcement are challenged to have enough personnel and resources to stay abreast of the growth in the area.

Substantiating Statistics:

  • The growth in population in the area between 1990 and 2000 was 48% and is predicted to double by 2010. 2000 Census and San Marcos Economic Development Council 2003.
  • TexasState's total enrollment for 2006 is 27,171 students. This figure, which includes undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students, represents another increase over last year's record of 26,827. City of San Marcos 2006 Presentation.
  • The amount of items taken into evidence has continued to grow since 2002. In the fiscal year 2002 San Marcos Police Department had 2410 pieces of evidence, in June 2004 they had 4353, six months before the fiscal year end. San Marcos Police Department Report January-June 2004

Impact on the Community:

  • Fewer law enforcement personnel and resources will decrease the effectiveness needed to address growing community needs.

Issues to Consider:

  • The population in HaysCounty continues to grow, and will double by 2010.
  • The enrollment at TexasStateUniversity continues to grow bringing more commuting students and more students living in the area.
  • An increasing volume of evidence collected and processed by the local police department strains the supply of adequate resources in the community to successfully investigate and prosecute crimes against people.

Action Plan to Leverage Resources:

  • Maintain relationships with law enforcement, prosecutors, social service agencies university and city officials through existing task forces, multi-disciplinary teams, and partnerships.
  • Continue to share statistical information with law enforcement, prosecutors, social service agencies university and city officials to insure they have the data to support the need for services in the area.
  • Actively seek new ways to secure additional resources to leverage with community social service efforts.

Funding Priorities:

  • Maintain existing funding levels to maintain existing services.
  • Seek additional funds to increase service levels to meet growing population needs and add additional service components.

ProbleM Statement Number 2:

The level of violence in domestic abuse cases has intensified. Family violence assaults more often involve weapons or strangulations and produce more severe injuries in victims.

Substantiating Statistics:

  • Local law enforcement officers report that the cases of family violence that they are see now more often involve weapons, strangulations and the victims more frequently have more severe injuries. San Marcos Police Department reports that in the last several years, officers responding to family violence calls see more severe injuries and more incidents involve weapons and strangulations. (Sergeant Penny Dunn, SMPD, 2004).

Kyle Police Department reports there were 141 Family Violence Disturbances from January to October 2004. Seven arrests and two assaults with knives, one of the assaults with a knife resulted in a homicide (Alfred Moore, Kyle Police Chief, 2004).

  • Incidents of domestic violence reported to law enforcement in HaysCounty (UCR Statistics) remains very high.

2003 / 2004 / 2005
467 / 413 / 495
  • A serious problem inherent to police intervention and investigation of family violence incidents is the potential for law officers to be assaulted. In 2005, in the course of responding to family violence incidents, 497Texas law officers were assaulted. (2005 Crime in Texas, Texas Department of Public Safety)

Impact on the Community:

  • A higher domestic violence rate will affect the entire community since this is an issue that can affect all citizens from all backgrounds.
  • More law enforcement, prosecutor’s office, social service agencies, etc. resources will be needed as the rate of domestic violence continues to grow.

Issues to Consider:

  • Increased public awareness of domestic violence has led to increased calls to law enforcement.
  • Law enforcement officials are at high risk for personal injury when responding to domestic violence calls.

Action Plan to Leverage Resources:

  • Maintain relationships with law enforcement, prosecutors and social service agencies through existing task forces, teams and partnerships to address the problem of family violence
  • Create a family violence task force that meets at least quarterly.
  • Actively seek new ways to secure additional resources to leverage with community social service efforts.

Funding Priorities:

  • Maintain existing funding levels to maintain existing services
  • Seek additional funds to increase service levels to meet growing population needs and add additional service components

Problem Statement Number 3:

Criminal activity is increased in the county because of substance abuse issues.

Substantiating Statistics:

  • Current substance abuse is high among domestic violence offenders, with 54% being current heavy users of one or more substances. The main type of substance abuse is alcohol usage, with 46% of the offenders being dependent or abusing. 28% were found dependent on opiates, cocaine, marijuana, or inhalants. Local statistics are not collected for on drug and alcohol usage at the time of arrest for domestic violence. However, local law enforcement officer’s comments and batterer self-report in the Domestic Violence Prevention program groups indicates a similar pattern locally. Marvel Maddox, Hays County Adult Probation Department CSR Director states, “DWI offenses and Control Substance Offenses combine to represent 59% of our total caseload ... add to this the "%" of other crime involving alcohol/drug, I would estimate that more than 80% of our caseload involves substance abuse issues in one way or another.”
  • In 2004, Hays-Caldwell Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse reported serving 1690 clients. 247 received group services, 33 received intervention counseling and 553 attended presentations. In 2005, HCADA served 2913 clients. 553 received group services, 76 received intervention counseling and 1836 attended presentations.

Impact on the Community:

  • Unresolved substance issues have a direct link to increased criminal activity
  • Lack of local resources burdens the few other social service programs that are not only as equipped to deal these issues but are over-loaded with their own service population.

Issues to Consider:

  • Drug abuse leads to increased property crimes and crimes against persons.
  • Local officials with Child Protective Services report an increased amount of child abuse reports due to substance abuse issues with parents.

Action Plan to Leverage Resources:

  • Maintain relationships with law enforcement, prosecutors, Child Protective Services and social service agencies through existing task forces, teams, and partnerships
  • Continue to share statistical information with law enforcement, prosecutors, Child Protective Services and social service agencies to insure they have the data to support the need for services in the area.
  • Actively seek new ways to secure additional resources to leverage with community social service efforts.

Funding Priorities:

  • Maintain existing funding levels to maintain existing services.
  • Seek additional funds to increase service levels to meet growing population needs and add additional service components.

PRoblem Statement Number 4:

Criminal activity is increased in the county because of unresolved mental health issues. In addition, an increasing amount of law enforcement resources are being used to address the mentally ill population

Substantiating Statistics:

  • In FY 2005, Hays County Sheriff’s Office provided transport services to mental health facilities to 97 Emotionally Disturbed Persons.
  • In FY 2006, Hays County Sheriff’s Office provided transport services to mental health facilities to 100 Emotionally Disturbed Persons, that is two to three weekly on average.
  • San Marcos Police Department, also reports providing transport services to mental health facilities to Emotionally Disturbed Persons two to three weekly on average.

Impact on the Community:

  • Law enforcement is required to do more with the same or sometimes less resources which again takes away from other community needs.
  • Temporarily putting a band-aid on a prevalent issue will inevitably allow that issue to resurface and even worsen since the core issues are not sufficiently being addressed due to lack of local resources.

Issues to Consider:

  • Lack of services for the mentally ill predisposes the mentally ill to criminal activity.
  • Increased demand on law enforcement to address this issue adds to an already overwhelmed and overextended law enforcement workforce.

Action Plan to Leverage Resources:

  • Maintain relationships with law enforcement, mental health facilities, hospitals, social service agencies through existing task forces, teams, and partnerships
  • Continue to share statistical information with social service and mental health facilities and hospitals to insure they have the data to support the need for services in the area.
  • Actively seek new ways to secure additional resources to leverage with community social service efforts.

Funding Priorities:

  • Maintain existing funding levels to maintain existing services.
  • Increase services for the mentally ill to pre-2002 levels.
  • Seek additional funds to increase service levels to meet growing population needs and add additional service components.

PRoblem Statement Number 5:

There continues to be a reduction in services to address child abuse and sexual assault, however there continues to be an increase in services.

Substantiating Statistics:

  • The number of forensic video interviews of child abuse victims at Roxanne’s House continues to grow. However, the need to add a position to cover this responsibility has not been possible due to funding issues.
  • Number of interviews:

FY 2004 / 143
FY 2005 / 155
FY 2006 / 139
  • The number of sexual assault exams performed at the local hospital has increased due to the steady growth of SANE nurses. In FY 2005, 18 exams performed and 29 in FY 2006.
  • The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services reported that for FY 2004, there were 958 alleged victims of child abuse/neglect in HaysCounty and 264 confirmed victims of child abuse/neglect. For FY 2005, there were 1085 alleged victims of child abuse/neglect and 288 confirmed victims.

Impact on the Community:

  • Not having sufficient staffing to address this ongoing and increasing community problem may result in lack of follow-through by victims feeling neglected by the response by local programs and local officials.

Issues to Consider:

  • No funding opportunities have developed for forensic interviewing at Roxanne’s House (Children’s AdvocacyCenter).
  • Though there has been a steady increase in Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners available at CentralTexasMedicalCenter, there is still a need for additional resources.
  • Though Child Protective Services has seen an increase in caseworkers investigating child abuse cases, the caseload has continued rise due to higher volumes of child abuse reports.

Action Plan to Leverage Resources:

  • Maintain relationships with law enforcement, Child Protective Services, prosecutors and social service agencies through existing task forces, teams, and partnerships.
  • Continue to work with our local hospital to develop a more effective SANE nurse capacity.
  • Actively seek new ways to secure additional resources to leverage with community social service efforts.

Funding Priorities:

  • Maintain existing funding levels to maintain existing services.
  • Seek additional funds to increase service levels to meet growing population needs and add additional service components.

JUVENILE JUSTICE and DELINQUENCY PREVENTION

Problem Statement Number 1:

Youth in HaysCounty are at continued risk for entering and remaining in the juvenile justice system and graduating into the adult criminal justice system

Substantiating Statistics:

Thirteen percent of residents in HaysCounty live in poverty. Of all households with annual incomes below the federal poverty level, 88 percent have children under the age of 18. (2000 US Census)

Youth in the Juvenile JusticeSystemHaysCounty - 2006

Juvenile Population (Ages 10 – 16) / 13,000
Formal Referrals / 594
Felony Referrals / 131
Misdemeanor Referrals / 375
CINS Referrals (Conduct indicating need for supervision) / 93
Felony Referral Rate/1000 juvenile / 13.0
Formal Referral Rate/1000 juvenile / 59.4
Juveniles claiming gang involvement / 11
Juveniles detained in detention / 308

Source of Data: TexasStateDataCenter and Maryann DeLeon, Hays County Juvenile Probation Department

Impact on the Community:

  • Youth increases in the juvenile justice system often graduate into the adult criminal justice system creating a dangerous cycle of criminal activity.

Issues to Consider:

  • Children who have late, fewer, or inadequate educational opportunities are at risk for behaviors that can result in entrance into the juvenile justice system.
  • Poverty is a contributing factor to a child entering the juvenile justice system.
  • Inadequate parenting and lack of parental involvement place children in danger of participating in criminal behavior

Action Plan to Leverage Resources:

  • Maintain relationships with juvenile delinquency programs, law enforcement, prosecutors and social service agencies through existing task forces, multi-disciplinary teams, and partnerships.
  • Continue to share statistical information with law enforcement, prosecutors, social service and juvenile delinquency programs to insure they have the data to support the need for services in the area.
  • Actively seek new ways to secure additional resources to leverage with community social service efforts.

Funding Priorities:

  • Maintain existing level of services.
  • Seek additional resources to expand services to meet growing population needs.

ProbleM Statement Number 2:

Using or abusing substances continues to be a problem for a significant number of youth.

Substantiating Statistics:

  • Youth in the Juvenile JusticeSystemHaysCounty - 2006

Felony Drug Offenses / 13
Misdemeanor Drug Offenses / 72
Juveniles placed in JITP (drug treatment at HaysCountyJuvenileCenter) / 9

Source of Data: Maryann DeLeon, Hays County Juvenile Probation Department

  • School officials and social service providers report youth they are serving through various programs have increased drug problems, some requiring serious intervention to deal with their issues but many report lack of local resources.

Impact on the Community:

  • Though youth don’t always enter the juvenile justice system because of drug offenses, many youth both in and out of the system develop substance abuse issues at an early age.

Issues to Consider:

  • Drug offenses in Texas have risen almost 100% in the last decade despite a recent decline in referrals to local probation departments. (Texas Juvenile Probation Commission News Publication, Summer 2004)
  • Unaddressed issues will inevitably exacerbate any substance abuse issues and can result in graduating to harder drug use.

Action Plan to Leverage Resources: