TJJD News & Announcements

What led you to your career in juvenile justice? I would say God did. As a child my father was an attorney, and a district attorney for part of my life. I enjoyed being in the courtroom with him and talking to him about cases. I knew I wanted to be in the courtroom in some form. I was originally hoping to go to law school, but was a single mom at the time. I continued my CJ course work and when I took my first juvenile justice class at University of Texas in El Paso, I was hooked. I knew then that I wanted to work with kids. What types of facilities do you operate? I do not currently operate any facility. However in the past, I operated the Juvenile Detention Facility in Grayson County. Currently in Johnson County we do not have our own facility and have to contract for beds. What programs do you feel have proven most successful? I really like the Youth Advocate Program. We have contracted with them for several years now and I do feel our kids get a lot from the mentors assigned...

Reprinted from the December 26, 2016 High Plains Journal. By Jennifer M. Latzke If you talk to J.D. Ragland very long, you’ll quickly realize that in his eyes, every “kiddo” has potential for great things. All they need is a nudge in the right direction. That nudge is the basis of the Randall County Dream Team Program in Canyon, Texas. This program takes select at-risk youth in seventh and eighth grades and uses the swine 4-H project to teach them skills and build confidence. All of it is in the hope of intervening at a critical crossroad in their development and pointing them down the path away from the juvenile justice system. The Dream Team was an idea that came about because the Randall County judge and the County Commissioners’ Court were frankly tired of seeing at-risk youth in the juvenile justice system. Not only does it cost the county upward of $35,000 per youth per year to house and feed juvenile offenders, but there’s also a tremendous personal cost to the at-risk...

This past October, 136 members of Giddings youth’s families had the amazing opportunity to worship together with their loved ones at the first ever Family Worship Day Event held on the Giddings campus. The event featured Christian rap artist Ivan Nacianceno, creator of Christ Like Music and Ministries out of Madisonville, Texas. Ivan shares his faith through captivating lyrics matched with undeniably catchy beats that youth, family members, and staff all enjoyed. Ivan pairs his musical gift with the inspirational message of his life story, which is easily relatable to our students. Giddings State School staff Heather Brock (Family Liaison) and Thomas Merchant (Chaplain) did an incredible job of providing this opportunity to youth and their loved ones. The event was broken into two sessions to accommodate the overwhelming response from families. Youth were able to sit and worship with their parents, siblings, and other family members and some youth led prayers and devotionals during...

TJJD’s Melissa Headrick welcomed hundreds of participants to the annual Tree of Angels ceremony in Austin on December 6, 2016. The service at Central Christian Church offered a poignant way to honor loved ones lost to violent crime. Representatives from law enforcement, the Governor’s Office, county commissioners, TDJC and TJJD provide assistance to People Against Violent Crime and the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, who host the event each year. TJJD takes special pride knowing that the Tree of Angels ceremony started through the creativity of our own Kristy Almager’s mother, Verna Lee Carr, who serves as Executive Director of People Against Violent Crime. Since Ms. Carr held the first event in 1991, it has grown into an annual ritual throughout much of Texas, nationally and internationally.

The Fort Worth Resource Council for Youth (FWRCY), the Salvation Army and One Heart Project helped make Christmas brighter for parole youth and their families in the Northern District of Tarrant County and Fort Worth. Thanks to their generosity, Fort Worth Parole Officers delivered Christmas baskets to 15 families and gave 35 youth fan and goody bags. Fort Worth Parole Staff Vickie Griffin was instrumental in making sure the baskets were well stocked. Parole Officers Natasha Johnson, Billy Branch and Jeffrey Manuel, along with their supervisor Diana Goodwin and Vickie Griffin, made home visits that included dropping off a basket that contained a ham, vegetables, cake mix and icing, instant mashed potatoes and more food for the holiday meal. Parole youth picked up their bags when they saw their Parole Officer – either at the office or at home, work or school. The youth fan and goody bags contained socks, gloves, a cap, body wash, shampoo snacks and other goodies. The families and yo...

The Denton County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. conducted an EMBODI, (Empowering Males to Build Opportunities for Developing Independence) program at McFadden Ranch on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016. Eight women from DST, and three men, representing Omega Psi Phi, Phi Beta Sigma, and Alpha Phi Alpha fraternities, presented a powerful program that impacted McFadden Ranch’s more than 50 youth in a big way. First Vice President Robbin Robinson, Shade Lester and Kalilah Coulter spearheaded the event which is part of the Sorority’s outreach and mission. Their program emphasized the importance of being successful in life, having good self-esteem, getting the right education for you and having a positive and professional presentation. Representing different professions, everyone shared their stories and experiences with college, careers and life with the youth. They led group discussions and allowed the youth to share their view points as well, concluding with a tie tyi...

When the Positive Behavior Interventions and Support program came to the Mart campus and it was decided the Violent Offender Program would be part of the first wave PBIS dorm, the treatment team was prepared. This program is based on the highly successful and acclaimed Capital and Serious Violent Offender Program at Giddings, and incorporates much of the proven program into a campus-based treatment program for youth. The dorm was extremely clean and organized, positive posters were everywhere, groups were taking place and program was followed to the letter. Incentives for good behavior motivated youth to perform and have a positive outlook towards the future. The program is not easy and changing internal culture and personal values is a difficult accomplishment but, with the help of the team, the dorm managed to be the star of Mart Complex and a model dorm. The dedicated professionals managing the program include front line JCOs, JCO Supervisor Monica Coward, Case manager Alberta R...

January is NATIONAL MENTORING MONTH and TJJD would like to express deep appreciation to each Mentor! Throughout the month, the agency has shared a variety of stories, training/webinar invitations, and video links that underscore the critical role mentors play in the lives of TJJD youth. If you, or someone you know, is interested in becoming a TJJD mentor, please contact Tammy Holland at 512-490-7090. Scott Bolsins: The Story of a Reluctant Mentor I have always had a place in my heart for youth and have served as a volunteer coach on several sports teams. When I was approached by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department about working with a 10-yearold boy who was serving a possible 15-year incarceration, I would like to say I jumped at the chance; however, I hesitated because I was anxious about working with a child who was incarcerated. I tried to reason away that I would have little impact on someone who had committed an offense that resulted in such a lengthy sentence. Nothing coul...

By Doug Vance, PhD Chair, TJJD Advisory Council The TJJD Advisory Council has for a number of years maintained several standing committees charged with addressing a specific area of importance to the field of juvenile justice. These committees focus on standards of care, performance measures, mental health, probation funding, and regionalization. For this article I wish to provide a general overview of the Standards Committee. The Standards Committee was formally created on May 1, 2012 at a regular meeting of the TJJD Advisory Council. At that time the Advisory Council deemed it a top priority to initiate a systematic review of certain administrative rules (standards of care) impacting juvenile probation departments. After establishing the committee,  Brazos County Chief Doug Vance was appointed Committee Chair and Cass County Chief Philip Hayes as Vice-Chair. In addition to Advisory Council membership on the committee it was deemed prudent to solicit additional representation f...

Happy new year to each of you. The 85th Legislative Session has begun and lawmakers have already begun meeting on a number of priority items. In addition to juvenile justice issues that are important to us all, a primary focus will be on the state’s budget. Recent estimates by the Comptroller have revealed that lawmakers will have approximately $104.87 billion of revenue available for state services during the next biennium, or about $3 billion less than the previous biennium. We should see the introduced state-wide budget very soon and, while it is informative, it is only a starting point. Although the budget will be tight, I continue to be optimistic in the Legislature’s support of TJJD, our county probation partners and for our future. The process is long and we will not know the outcome for quite some time. I am pleased to welcome new board members to TJJD’s leadership. At the same time, we will certainly feel the loss of four very special former members whose terms have expired...

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has appointed Pama Hencerling to the Texas Juvenile Justice Board for a term set to expire February 1, 2017 and appointed Edeska Barnes, Jr., Lisa Jarrett, Candy Noble and Wes Ritchey for terms set to expire February 1, 2021. The board is charged with developing and implementing rules to govern the department, executive director and staff, and to establish the mission and set goals for the department to emphasize keeping youth in home communities while balancing rehabilitative needs with public safety. Pama Hencerling of Victoria is the chief juvenile probation officer of Victoria and Goliad Counties. She is past president of the Texas Institute on Children and Youth and a member of the Central Texas Chiefs Association, Texas Probation Association and the Juvenile Justice Associate of Texas. Hencerling received a Bachelor of Science from Sam Houston State University. Edeska Barnes, Jr. of Jasper is the chief juvenile probation officer for the First Judici...