TJJD News & Announcements

(This story reprinted from the July 11, 2016 Longview News Journal) Aris Johnson, the deputy chief at Gregg County’s Juvenile Probation Department, recently received the Charles W. Hawkes Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas Probation Association. The statewide probationers group gave out the award at its annual conference in San Marcos this spring. The Hawkes award is considered the association’s highest award, given to individuals who, over the years, have made significant contributions to the field of community corrections. Johnson has worked with Gregg County for 24 years, serving as an intake officer and a casework supervisor before becoming deputy chief. Previously, he worked 14 years at Harrison County Juvenile Probation Department as a detention superintendent and as chief juvenile probation officer. “We are extremely proud of Aris for receiving this well deserved recognition,” Gregg County Juvenile Probation Chief Bing Canion said. Johnson is a lifetime member of ...

Each of TJJD’s 14 facilities (secure and halfway houses) have been audited for compliance with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act and have all been found PREA compliant, completing the first three-year audit cycle which ends August 19, 2016. Congratulations to each of these facilities and their staff for maintaining the sexual safety culture of TJJD youth. TJJD staff remains committed to sustaining this effort! The second three-year audit cycle begins on August 20, 2016 through August 19th, 2019. During this second audit cycle, beginning in mid-2017 Ron Jackson, Brownwood House, Evins, Tamayo House and McFadden Ranch will be scheduled to have their second audit. The TJJD PREA Compliance Department will commence the preparation process for these facilities in the fall of this year. Ten county detention facilities have been PREA audited and have been found PREA compliant. Val Verde, Tarrant, San Patricio, Brazoria, Galveston and Grayson County are the latest ones to be audited a...

By Doug Vance, PhD, Chief Probation Officer, Brazos County Juvenile Probation Department In order to provide relevant information to readers regarding TJJD Advisory Council projects and activities, the Advisory Council has recently been afforded the prestigious opportunity of submitting a news and information article for each publication of TJJD’s newsletter Juvenile Justice Today. For this initial installment, I thought it might be of interest to provide readers with some basic background information regarding the establishment, purpose, and benefits of the Advisory Council. The Texas Juvenile Justice Department’s Advisory Council on Juvenile Services is a legislatively mandated body that reports directly to the TJJD Board of Directors. Advisory Council membership consists of the following appointments: TJJD Executive Director TJJD Director of Probation Services Executive Commissioner of Health and Human Services One County Commissioner Two Juvenile Court Judges Seven ...

(This article appeared on the website of Lubbock television station KCBD) LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - “I am excited to announce that on June 2, 2016 the Department of Justice certified the Lubbock County Juvenile Justice Center as PREA compliant. This means LCJJC was found to be in compliance with all 41 of the audited PREA standards. We became only the 6th County operated facility in the State of Texas to do so,” said director William Carter. “The Lubbock County Juvenile Justice Center has always provided excellent care of the individuals in our custody and achieving this certification simply confirms our commitment to provide excellent services to the youth of Lubbock County,” said Carter. The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was passed in 2003 with unanimous support from both parties in Congress. PREA is the first United States Federal Law passed dealing with sexual abuse of incarcerated persons. The purpose of the act is to “provide for the analysis of the incidence and effects of...

The Texas Juvenile Justice Department’s Education Division introduced new technology into the lives of select youth through the deployment of the American Prison Data System (APDS) tablet in a three-month pilot program. The tablet is similar to an iPad or Android device but is encased in a tamperproof, military grade shell to protect it from abuse. The tablet utilizes an Android operating system and comes preloaded with a range of programs and services and an extensive library. Eighty tablets, funded through federal Title 1 grant money, have now been deployed at both the Gainesville and Giddings facilities. Youth receiving the tablets qualified by reaching behavior and educational goals such as academic grades, number of responsibility center referrals, and security admittances. Points were accumulated and calculated to implement a dorm “group incentive.” In Gainesville and Giddings, there were three/four dorms that qualified to receive and use the tablets for 30 days. Youth will ha...

In Bexar County, youth assigned to Community Service Restitution work crews are constructing free wheelchair ramps for the elderly and people with disabilities. Bexar County Juvenile Probation Department has partnered with the Texas Ramp Project -- a statewide nonprofit that builds free wheelchair ramps for the elderly and people with disabilities who cannot afford them on their own. Texas Ramp Project provides training, materials and tools for the CSR work crews, as well as identifies and qualifies all ramp recipients. Beginning in February of this year, John Laine, State Coordinator for the Texas Ramp Project, began providing ramp construction training to community service restitution staff at the Bexar County Juvenile Probation Department. Since then, four ramps have been built, and thirty youth have taken part in the project. Collectively, they have performed a total of 228 community service hours. Equally important, since the ramps are constructed on-site at the home of the ...

I’m happy to report that regional diversions efforts continue as counties across the state are utilizing local resources that will allow them to keep more youth out of the state system. Since the diversion program began two months ago, TJJD has received 61 diversion applications and approved 20 placements. Eleven youth have been placed thus far and nine others are awaiting judicial approval. TJJD staff are currently considering another four applications and expect to have 30 successful diversions by August 31, 2016. The initial Discretionary State Aid application process has concluded and by early August we will notify probation departments whether their applications were approved. This $1.8 million program was established by SB 1630 during the 84th Legislative Session to enhance existing programs or establish new performance-based programs at the local level. TJJD received 26 applications. TJJD staff worked with interested probation departments to develop applications to provide s...

The much anticipated expansion of the TJJD’s Pairing Achievement With Success (PAWS) program took place in June as the highly successful program began operations on the Gainesville State School campus. Thus far, five youth and five dogs have been paired. The PAWS program pairs select TJJD youth with K9 partners for a minimum of 12 weeks. The dogs, which come from local animal shelters, learn basic commands, improved socialization skills, and earn a Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Certification. This certification is recognized as the gold standard for dog behavior. Youth learn responsibility and benefit from the companionship. Youth selected to participate in the program are carefully chosen to ensure they will have the right temperament to work with the dogs. These youth are typically some of the best behaved youth on campus and have earned the right to participate in the program. All youth live in the designated PAWS dorm and, during the 12-week program, are responsible not only for ...