The Texas Juvenile Justice Department is hiring but job seekers apparently aren't interested. A Texas House committee is now looking for answers after news the worker shortage is hurting the young people the state is supposed to be helping.

The interim head of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department on Tuesday confirmed to state lawmakers what had been making news since last week, the state's juvenile lockups are so short-staffed that young offenders sometimes have to improvise just to meet their own basic needs.

Due to severe staffing shortages the young inmates can end up spending 22 hours of their day locked up with no one available to even escort them to the bathroom. Interim Executive Director Shanda Carter explained the tight staffing that’s causing problems teams responsible for escorting inmates when they leave their quarters. She says, “If that mobile team gets caught up in a crisis like intervening on an attempted suicide or intervening in a fight then they’re delayed before they can move to the next dorm. And we did not issue water bottles for this purpose. We issue water bottles for youth to drink water and kids used what was available to them.”

And the TJJD executive confirms some kids have hurt themselves to get their attention. She explains, “When a kid engages in self-harm we have to get the kid out of the room, that kid gets to go to the nurse, that youth gets to potentially have a one-on-one with staff so they know they will get some relief through that behavior.”

Local State Rep James Talarico wasn't surprised by what he heard. He says the state has refused to address the problem for years. “It just bothers me that we are a wealthy state,” he says adding, “We are talking about this like it was a hurricane rather than something that’s been brewing for decades. We knew this was coming and we have the money to fix it and we’re not fixing it.”

And the current TJJD leadership doesn't see any quick fixes coming. Carter says she was considering asking for the Texas National Guard to help with her department’s operations. But she concluded, “When I ask for that it’s supposed to be a short term request, but I have nothing that tells me that that would go away.”