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 Chief Juvenile Probation Officers.
Chief Juvenile Probation appointees are determined by a collaborative process involving each of the seven juvenile probation chief associations nominating member candidates for appointment consideration. The TJJD Board of Directors then acts upon those nominations.
Legislatively mandated duties of the Advisory Council consist of:
- Determining the needs and problems of county juvenile boards and probation departments.
- Conducting long-range strategic planning.
- Reviewing and proposing revisions to existing or newly proposed standards affecting juvenile probation programs, services, or facilities.
- Analyzing the potential cost impact on juvenile probation departments of new standards proposed by the board.
- Advising the board on any other matter on the request of the board.
Since its 2012 inception, the Advisory Council has been very active in discussions and related work pertaining to a variety of important juvenile justice matters that include standards of care, funding formula revision, risk/need assessment, and mental health funding to name a few. In this vain, rather than work in a vacuum, the Advisory Council has deemed it profitable to work closely with the Texas Juvenile Justice Department and the many Juvenile Probation Departments in Texas in order to successfully create enduring partnerships with a multitude of individual practitioners and strategic organizations that include the Texas Probation Association, the Juvenile Justice Association of Texas, the Texas Juvenile Detention Association, as well as various Child Advocacy Organizations and Child Service Agencies.
Without an Advisory Council, Juvenile Probation Departments and Child Service Agencies would be left with limited means available for systemic and formalized representation in the major decision-making processes occurring at the State level that have direct impact upon juvenile probation and the multitude of children and families served throughout the system. In this sense, the Advisory Council is that formally recognized vehicle that enables meaningful participation by designated stakeholders in shaping the scope and course Texas Juvenile Justice.
The Advisory Council, by its very design, provides that indispensable bridge between Juvenile Probation, Child Service Agencies, and the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, so that together, and in unison, we can more effectively assuage the many daunting challenges of today and secure the means necessary to forge for posterities sake, a promising future, thereby ensuring that the Texas Juvenile Justice System will continue to be for generations to come, second to none.