8 September 12 - 18, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents attainment and higher rates of healthcare disparities. … A lot of that is important to take into consideration when we’re talking about risk-related factors.” Southern and western Dallas were high- lighted as two regions where uninsured rates are contributing to a lack of accessibil- ity, and the Dallas County Needs Assessment urges city officials to focus resources in those areas. Citywide and regionally, increased eco- nomic pressures and the continued stigma surrounding addiction could be contribut- ing to the alarming spike in overdoses. Ledat added that in youth populations, traditional “protective factors” such as extracurricular activities are losing popularity. The effects of COVID-19 isolation on mental health is another factor that is con- tinuing to be felt nationally, added Becky Tinney, director of special projects at the center. “It was unfortunately kind of a perfect storm of factors to contribute to increased substance use,” Tinney told the Observer. “We’re going to see the impact of that, I think, for years to come. When you look at that span of time and this spike in data, I think it goes without saying that a large con- tributing factor to that has been COVID.” But if COVID-19 was the primary factor at play in the fentanyl crisis, Dallas County’s data likely wouldn’t stand out against the rest of the counties’ so significantly. Nation- ally, 2023 marked the first time in five years that overdose death rates dropped, accord- ing to The New York Times. The majority of that decline was attributed to a decline in opioid and fentanyl-related overdoses. Political Factors W ith health accessibility in Dallas County already an issue, Texas’ stringent penalties for drug pos- session could be harming outreach efforts as well, the Dallas County Needs Assessment states. Dallas County does not have a clean sy- ringe program, which has been shown to de- crease disease spread and increase the number of users seeking treatment. Addition- ally, drug paraphernalia laws still prohibit fentanyl testing strips in Texas, despite bipar- tisan support to legalize the harm reduction tool in the Texas Legislature’s last session. Texas is one of only five states to outlaw the strips. After a record of opposing the de- criminalization of the tests, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott changed his mind last year, after gaining a “better understanding” of actions the state needs to take to combat the opioid and fentanyl crisis. “There’s going to be a movement across the state to make sure we do everything that we can to protect people from dying from fentanyl, and I think test strips will be one of those ways,” Abbott said. State Sen. Nathan Johnson attempted to start that movement on the state level last year, authoring Senate Bill 623, which would legalize testing strips for controlled sub- stances. The bill received overwhelming support from the state House, passing 143-2, but stalled in the Senate. In a statement to the Observer, Johnson said state lawmakers should revisit legalizing the “cheap, life-sav- ing test strips” in the upcoming session. “Twenty-five hundred Texans a year – that’s seven people each day – die from drug-related deaths involving fentanyl. Many aren’t even aware that they are ingest- ing it,” Johnson said. “This session, the Leg- islature has an opportunity to get the job done.” ▼ EDUCATION CORRECTIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL SCHOOLING INCARCERATED JUVENILES POSES A CHALLENGE IN DALLAS COUNTY. BY JACOB VAUGHN K aren Ramos, the deputy director of educational services in Dallas Coun- ty’s Juvenile Department, is confi- dent in the teaching provided in the juvenile jail. But previous studies have shown that education in the juvenile justice system is generally lacking in a number of ways. The Academy for Academic Excellence was started in 1999 to provide educational services to all students residing in a Dallas County Juvenile Department in- stitution and transitioning out of residential placement to their home. There are four such cam- puses in the Dallas County Juve- nile Department academy, each of which offer special education classes in addition to an array of other learning opportunities. After a classroom assessment, each student receives instruc- tion in core subjects, such as math, science, English/language arts and social studies. Gener- ally, classes at the Dallas County Juvenile Justice Campus are capped at 12 students, who attend from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. Day Reporting Center is a transitional cam- pus that provides students an academic envi- ronment meant to help them transition back into a traditional school setting. This campus offers regular academic programming for grades 6–12, as well as GED preparation. At the Youth Village and Medlock cam- puses, which have been recently approved for expansion by the county, students can get vocational training in construction, welding and culinary arts. There’s also the Letot Center, a residential emergency shel- ter that operates 24 hours a day and can ac- commodate 10 boys and 24 girls. The academy’s educational services are also of- fered to youths staying at the Letot Center. The people teaching at the campuses range from first-time educators to retired teach- ers from local school districts. Teaching can be challenging in any setting, Ramos said, but there are additional obstacles to teaching incarcerated youth, some of whom haven’t been to a traditional school in years. “We’re feeling the educational gap,” Ramos said. “That’s a challenge, as well as such a rewarding experience when you catch someone up.” Where the county’s juvenile services re- ally shine, as far as Ramos sees it, is in voca- tional training, special education and English as a second language classes. On top of training for vocations in areas such as construction, welding and the culinary arts, the county will also start provid- ing teaching on floral design soon. “Because our classes are smaller, we’re able to provide a lot of individual or small group work to help kids learn faster, pick up missing skills, all of those things,” Ramos said. What would make the job easier? Even teachers at tradi- tional schools are saying it: more money from the government. Ramos hopes this will be ad- dressed in the upcoming legislative session. “Since 2019, there’s not been an increase in per student funding, even though every- thing has gone up,” she said. “Whether it’s a case of papers or a box of pencils, it costs more than it did in 2019.” A 2022 paper in the College of Safety & Emergency Services Academic Journal iden- tifies some problems with educating incar- cerated youth. To be clear, in this area, Dallas County isn’t alone. In 2019, there were about 48,000 youth confined to juvenile and adult correctional fa- cilities in the U.S. on any given day. These indi- viduals have a right to learning that is comparable to traditional education, the paper says. Adolescents entering the juvenile justice education system have lower academic achievement than students in traditional schools. Among the problems these youth face are grade repetition and learning disabilities. The National Juvenile Network esti- mated that some 70% of juvenile offenders have learning disabilities, a population that is also more likely to have emotional or sub- stance abuse issues, according to the paper. Racial and ethnic minorities are also over- represented in the juvenile justice system. The network also argues that these educa- tional services are substandard and gener- ally don’t align with state curricula, creating issues for students who are trying to transfer back to their home school districts. While it can be difficult educating kids in jail, there are success stories coming out of the Dallas County Juvenile Department, Ra- mos said. “We have kids that end up being very suc- cessful,” she said. “I have a phone call that I’m going to have to return in a little bit of a kid that is now grown up, has graduated, owns a business, and he says ‘It’s because I attended and got my life turned around.’ So, those kinds of things where kids graduate and are rehabilitated and go on to become productive citizens, that’s something that people need to realize because it really does happen.” ▼ DRUG BE CAREFUL ON YOUR TRIP SYNTHETIC PSYCHEDELICS AND BATH SALTS ARE JUST A COUPLE OF THINGS FOUND IN MUSHROOM PRODUCTS LIKE THE ONES SOLD IN DFW. BY JACOB VAUGHN W alk into most smoke shops these days and you’ll likely see a sec- tion dedicated to mushroom products. They come in gummies, choco- lates and vapes. We’ve had our fun with sup- posedly legal magic mushroom gummies, but some details have come out about what is in them that gives us pause about taking them again or recommending them to any- one else. If you’ve been following our mushroom coverage, you’ll know that one brand called Diamond Shruumz has sent dozens of users to the hospital and is potentially associated with two deaths. The FDA has been keeping tabs on the adverse effects, which have in- cluded seizures and vomiting. Diamond Shruumz products have led to 145 illnesses and 59 hospitalizations across 29 states, in- cluding Texas. The company behind the Diamond Shru- umz edibles initiated a recall after its prod- ucts started making people sick. However, we found one store in Dallas that was still carrying the products in July, and the FDA identified several others in the area and across Texas with the questionable edibles still on their shelves. These products often boast that they con- tain a “proprietary mushroom blend.” Sometimes the packages will be labeled with what’s in the blend, but the FDA has Unfair Park from p6 Johnrob/Getty Images Fentanyl contributed to 79.8% of drug overdose deaths in Dallas County in 2023, a study found. >> p10 “SINCE 2019, THERE’S NOT BEEN AN INCREASE IN PER STUDENT FUNDING, EVEN THOUGH EVERYTHING HAS GONE UP.” –KAREN RAMOS
