TJJD News & Announcements

The Giddings State School had another very successful Family Day in late February 2016. A total of 154 visitors and 59 youth that participated on a beautiful day full of games, ring toss, bean bag toss, dominoes, cards, and families playing basketball, playing football, or flying kites. The day was headed up by new Family Liaison, Heather Brock, and it went off without a hitch. The most important aspect of the day was that the young men got to reconnect with their loved ones and enjoy their company once again. The Giddings State School expresses its great appreciation to the Giddings Community Resource Council, and for all of the staff that worked to make this event a success.

Many jobs within the juvenile justice profession require staff to be patient, respectful, and professional toward youth. TJJD staff are no different. At TJJD, safety is a priority as youth receive the help they need to reintegrate back into the community successfully. Nonphysical and physical interventions are sometimes necessary to ensure both staff and youth are kept safe. The Juvenile Justice Training Academy (JJTA) will implement a newly revised Use of Force Policy training beginning in April for new hire and tenured staff. These courses are designed to give staff adequate knowledge of TJJD policy specific to the Use of Force, to gain knowledge of how to determine whether force is necessary, how to use force appropriately, what force is prohibited, and to what degree force should be used. In addition, activities and scenarios are incorporated throughout the courses for participants to determine whether use of force was used appropriately or inappropriately for resolving a ...

Cottrell House youth honored Black History Month by celebrating all cultures and their achievements. Youth made this decision because they each recognized that they all have a culture and heritage that they are proud of and want to share. Youth worked together and agreed to prepare a meal from each of their cultures. An important part of the agreement was that everyone had to participate by cooking not only their culture’s food, but other cultures as well. Stephanie Howell, GED teacher at Cottrell House, expressed her pride in the youth for deciding to honor all culture groups. She said, “We normally have a cooking class twice a month for youth. I taught youth how to search for recipes on different internet cooking sites. We started with making cookies and then we prepared food for Thanksgiving. I was surprised when the youth decided to celebrate Black History month by cooking foods from all different cultures of the youth at Cottrell House. This was something they decided and pla...

The 2015-2016 school year was a GREAT year for the Texas Juvenile Justice Department Giddings State School Indians. The Boys of Fall had a very successful season playing football, led by Athletic Director and Coach Sandy Brown. It was the third attempt at playing six-man football, and they made the best of it. No, we’re not talking about crowded field football, with 22 guys going at it at one time. We’re talking about six-man football, where you have to be quick, fast, have a lot of stamina, and you better have a trick play or two up your sleeve!!! The boys competed well and this was the first year they actually got to play a full six-man schedule, the first year to make it to the playoffs, and the first year to win a playoff game. It was exciting an exciting season and the youth gave every game their all. Congratulations Giddings.

On February 22-24, the Juvenile Law Section of the State Bar of Texas sponsored the 29th Annual Juvenile Law Conference in San Antonio. TJJD’s Juvenile Justice Training Academy coordinated the conference in partnership with the Juvenile Law Section and welcomed approximately 415 juvenile justice professionals from across the state. TJJD Board Member and Chair of the Juvenile Law Section, Riley Shaw, planned a unique advanced juvenile law conference specifically designed to give practitioners the latest and most pertinent information relevant to juvenile justice in Texas. During the conference, distinguished professionals from across the state presented on various topics that benefited all facets of professionals wanting to enhance the juvenile justice system attending from judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, probation personnel, educators, law enforcement, state agency personnel and others that may have been in attendance. While there was an array of topics throughout the thr...

At Keller Williams Realty Company’s annual Family Reunion Convention in New Orleans, the company’s Mo Anderson Trust presented the Gainesville State School with a $10,000 donation to Gainesville Student Support Council to benefit the school’s basketball team. Accepting the donation on behalf of the Gainesville State School was Tornadoes basketball coach Henry Thomas. At every annual reunion convention, Keller Williams hosts an “Inspirational Brunch”. At this year’s brunch, the now famous basketball game between the Gainesville team and the Waco Van Guard team was featured. Earlier in the basketball season, the Van Guard basketball team had driven to Gainesville to play against the Tornadoes. Two Van Guard players, Ben and Hudson, noticed that there were no cheerleaders, banners, posters, or fans. They decided to make things different for the Gainesville youth when they came to Waco for the next game, and they did! After the Tornadoes arrived and had their warm up, they were ins...

Fort Worth Parks and Community Services Department recently recognized their “Star” volunteers, including TJJD employees Parole Service Assistant Leaner Singleton at the Fort Worth District Parole Office and JCO VI Charles Mack at Willoughby House in Fort Worth. Both were honored at the Hillside Community Center’s First Annual Celebration of Stars event and dinner for their invaluable contribution to the facility. Community Center Superintendent Delana Legans said TJJD youth, especially those at Willoughby House, help in many ways. “They help with activities, they serve, they clean, they set up and they assist in other ways,” she said. Ms. Legans, who has worked at Hillside for the past eight years, said she remembers working with the girls when Willoughby was a female facility. She said Mr. Mack and Ms. Singleton came to Hillside when Community Center Aide Anthony Williams transferred from Eugene McCray Community Center. “Anthony brought them over,” she said. Hillside Co...

What led you to your career in juvenile justice? My path to juvenile justice truly began when I was only 13 years old. That was the beginning of my transition into the Texas Foster Care system, which officially occurred at the age of 14. That experience instilled in me a deep desire to raise awareness and catalyze positive change for children and families. Of course, at that time, I did not know how I would be a part of creating that awareness and change; only that I had a gut-deep commitment to do so. That desire eventually led me to pursue a career in clinical mental health counseling. I earned a BA and MA in Psychology and am currently completing my doctoral dissertation, which is the last requirement toward my Ph.D. in psychology, which I hope to have conferred in 2016. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and Board-Approved Supervisor. Before working for Randall County, I spent several years working in clinical mental health counseling settings, including owning my own cou...

The Juvenile Justice Training Academy has been working diligently over the last six months with the Correctional Management Institute of Texas (CMIT) and the Regional Training Officers statewide to develop an automated competency exam for applicants seeking certification as a juvenile probation officer. The competency exam is in accordance to Texas Human Resource Code §222.001 and was promulgated to bring an increased level of credibility to the officer’s certification. The requirements are set forth in Texas Administrative Code §344.700. While juvenile probation officers were taking a written exam following the completion of basic training if they attended at Sam Houston State University, the administration of such an exam was not universally administered statewide in departments providing their own training. Beginning in April 2016, TJJD will be working in partnership with CMIT to pilot an automated competency exam over a five-month period with an overall goal of going live state...

Motivational speaker and author Tammy Kling, former NBA Laker star Maurice “Mo” Evans and his protege, Marcus Tuggle, recently spoke with youth at McFadden Ranch, delivering an inspirational message to keep the faith and put the past behind them when they re-enter society. Kling, the head of the publishing company On Fire Books, said she was eager to speak with the youth and plans to become a TJJD volunteer/mentor so she can conduct writing workshops and bring in more exceptional speakers. Kling also shared her personal story and emphasized the “POWER OF WORDS,” the title of her TED Talk and a key element of her success. Evans, who heads the Houstonbased Every Level of Success Sports and Entertainment Group, mentors young athletes and he encouraged the youth at McFadden to avoid three specific pitfalls in life – being a people pleaser, being a procrastinator, and being too proud. He said just learning to change those things helped him tremendously. Tuggle shared his story a...

The Student Support Council for the Gainesville State School recently held a banquet for the winning Gainesville State Tornadoes basketball team in the fellowship hall of Whaley United Methodist Church in Gainesville. Team members, council members, and staff enjoyed a delicious catered dinner, gifts, decorations, trophies, fun, and fellowship at the event while celebrating their basketball season. Council members Jerome Voth, Jerry Jones, Nancy Voss, Bettie Washington, and Judy Davis helped plan and set up for the big day. They enjoyed the celebration and Nancy Voss noted, “Those boys can eat!” The boys looked handsome in their dress shirts and ties as they enjoyed the event. Thanks to Nancy Mountcastle for helping them to dress for success!