Texas ? The entire board of directors for the state’s troubled youth prisons resigned Friday following weeks of criticism sparked by reports that agency workers covered up sex abuse of inmates.

The six-member Texas Youth Commission submitted resignation letters to Gov. Rick Perry after recommending a reform plan that calls for stricter supervision and new rules on sex abuse allegations, Perry spokesman Ted Royer said.

The board met briefly by conference call to hand over its power to acting executive director Ed Owens, who was hired to overhaul the agency dogged by accusations that inmates were sexually and physically abused in youth facilities across the state.

The resignations came a day after the U.S. Department of Justice released a report saying the high rate of inmate-on-inmate assaults at a juvenile prison in Edinburg created a “chaotic and dangerous” atmosphere that violated the residents’ constitutional rights.

The Texas Youth Commission incarcerates about 4,700 offenders ages 10 to 21 who are considered the most dangerous, incorrigible or chronic.