AUSTIN, Texas — Shandra Carter, executive director of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, resigned Oct. 23, about two months after she ordered an unprecedented lockdown of all five of the state’s youth prisons that internal records show was followed by a wave of self-harm by children confined to their cells.

Carter told staff in a message that morning, “I want you to hear directly from me that I have submitted my resignation.” Neither she nor the agency explained why she was leaving. TJJD Chief of Staff Nathan McDaniel confirmed the resignation but declined further comment.

Deputy Executive Director Sean Grove will serve as interim director while the agency’s board plans a search for a permanent leader. “We appreciate Shandra Carter’s many years of service to TJJD and our state,” board Chair Manny Ramirez said.

The August lockdown

Carter, who had led the agency since 2022, ordered the statewide lockdown in August after a youth assaulted a juvenile correctional officer at the Gainesville State Juvenile Correctional Facility. She called the assault “exceptionally brutal,” and the officer was hospitalized. Carter said the lockdown gave staff across the agency time to review their safety procedures.

For several days, hundreds of children in the state’s five youth prisons, which hold about 750 youth in total, were kept in their cells except for about 30 minutes a day for showers and bathroom use. Restrictions eased after a few days, but many dorms remained in “shutdown” for weeks.

At an Aug. 21 board meeting, Carter defended the decision. “This is not punishment, and inherently it is not a violation of youth rights,” she said.

What the records showed

Thousands of pages of shift logs obtained by KERA and The Texas Newsroom documented scores of self-harm episodes during the first days of the lockdown, including youth banging their heads against cell walls and tying ligatures from clothing and bedding. At the Mart facility east of Waco, three youth tied ligatures within 40 minutes on Aug. 15. In a handful of cases, staff took more than 30 minutes to remove a ligature.

The logs also showed youth waiting hours for staff to escort them to the restroom, missed suicide-alert and cell checks, and a dorm at Mart where youth went three days without phone calls because there was not enough staff. At the Evins Regional Juvenile Center in the Rio Grande Valley, staff recorded at least five uses of pepper spray early in the lockdown, and the agency’s Office of Inspector General found at least three did not meet approved criteria.

McDaniel said staff “intervene immediately” when youth are in danger of serious self-harm and that self-harm happens with or without a lockdown because the agency now holds more youth with high mental health needs.

A troubled agency

Carter took over in 2022, when the youth prison system was losing staff so quickly it temporarily stopped accepting new youth. A 2024 U.S. Department of Justice report found unconstitutional conditions in all five facilities, including routine excessive force and sexual abuse, and inadequate mental health and special education services. TJJD has said staffing has improved since 2022, but shortages and high turnover continue.

Earlier this month, the agency broke ground on two new youth lockups in Ellis and Brazoria counties. Advocates who have long pushed to replace youth prisons with community-based treatment criticized the timing. “TJJD should cancel the groundbreakings, ensure all youth in their custody are safe,” said Sarah Beebe, a supervising staff attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project.

Texas Prison News will update this story as the board names a permanent director.

Sources

• The Texas Tribune — Head of Texas juvenile justice department resigns (Oct. 23, 2026)
• The Texas Newsroom — Texas youth prison director resigns following controversial multiday lockdown (Oct. 23, 2026)
• KERA / The Texas Newsroom — Texas youth prison lockdown records detail self-harm, delayed care and escalating use of force (Sept. 22, 2026)
• The Texas Newsroom — Texas juvenile prisons were on full lockdown for days after officer’s assault, state says (Aug. 21, 2026)