TJJD News & Announcements

Parole Officer Ricardo Leal is retiring in October 2017 after 35 years of service to the state and the juvenile justice field. He began his career with the former Texas Youth Commission in 1983, serving as a youth activity supervisor at the Giddings State School, Tamayo Halfway House and Beto Halfway House. In 1994, Ricardo made the change to become a parole officer, a position he has held for the past 24 years. Ricardo said many of his best memories are meeting young men and women who he once supervised that are now living productive lives in the community. "I’ve had 35- to 45-year-old men and women approach me in the community, introducing me to their families and sharing their life stories," he said. "After those conversations, they’ll ask if I recognize them. Some of them are now in the medical, educational or law enforcement fields." Ricardo said some of the biggest changes he’s seen during his career revolve around technology and the ability to...

GAINESVILLE, Texas – On January 19, 2017, Gainesville State School hosted Breakfast and Bingo for the Gainesville youth and their families as well as their mentors. Youth and family members enjoyed breakfast, played bingo, took pictures and enjoyed visiting with one another. A total of 100 people were in attendance for this event. The Gainesville Student Support Council sponsored the event and provided the meal, bingo prizes, and photographs for both the youth and the family. Due to the great success of the event, Gainesville State School plans on making this an annual event. Photo: Family members visit with their youth at the Breakfast and Bingo event.

MART, Texas – Visitors to the McLennan County State Juvenile Correctional Facility (Mart) campus will be greeted in a more welcoming gatehouse lobby in an effort to make the facility more family friendly. In addition to new and more soothing paint, more comfortable chairs and couches have been provided. The family visitation area was also repainted and a reading center and interactive play area were created for younger children to play in and youth who have children here could sit with their child and read them a book. More than 200 books were ordered – 100 in English and 100 in Spanish. Staff have been supportive of this renewed push toward family engagement and a family friendly environments. Staff appreciate the new color schemes and welcoming environment and parents have commented how much easier is it to visit their kids in a more family friendly environment rather than a correctional environment.

BROWNWOOD, Texas – Youth incarcerated at the Ron Jackson facility in Brownwood, Texas, got a rare and well-earned opportunity for a field trip to reunite with service dogs they had trained when the dogs first emerged from their own humble beginnings at Texas animal shelters. On January 11, 2017, four boys in the program, along with staff from Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD), traveled three and a half hours to Dripping Springs, Texas, near Austin, to visit the campus of Service Dogs, Inc. The boys and other TJJD youth have been working with trainers from Service Dogs, Inc. for over a year in the nation’s first and only juvenile offender service dog training program. “Youth in the PAWS program (Pairing Achievement With Service) have been living with and training shelter dogs for pet adoption since 2010,” explains PAWS administrator and dog trainer for TJJD Cris Burton, M.Ed. “Youth must pass a psychological screening and have enough time left to work with the dogs throug...

AUSTIN, Texas – In 2008, TJJD began an annual family survey to determine how families feel about their child’s rehabilitation progress. The survey is available on the TJJD website and allows families to rate various issues such as education, medical care, case management, youth safety, and other areas of interest. The survey has also been provided to family members during visitation weekends and through mail outs. Survey results provide information on family views and provide guidance for areas of improvement. In 2016, the agency collected 457 responses from family members across the state. 386 responses were in English and 71 in Spanish.

ROCKWALL, Texas – Angie Scalf, the Department Director for Rockwall County Juvenile Services, has been an outspoken advocate for changing the methodology of working with at-risk youth, providing more at-home services for the families, providing free outpatient drug counseling, and using innovative techniques to avoid detention, placement or commitment to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. The Department, which employs five probation officers and two licensed counselors, provides drug education, supportive outpatient drug counseling, intensive outpatient drug counseling, anger management, family preservation, individual counseling, a 1st Offender Program, a gardening program, in-house community service and Experiential Education. Rockwall County’s Experiential Education Program began with the assistance of Marla Burns, an adventure-based counselor with Williamson County Juvenile Services and Texas State University. Burns facilitated several camp outs with youth and probation of...

AUSTIN, Texas – With the 85th Texas Legislative Session more than halfway complete, much time and energy is spent right now on the decisions being made at the Capitol. Several of us from TJJD are regularly at the Capitol talking about the needs of our system. Many of our county partners and juvenile justice practitioners are doing the same. In February, I testified before the Senate Finance Committee and the House Appropriations Committee to lay out the budget needs for both TJJD and county probation partners. Since that time, each committee has completed their work; in the coming weeks, we will see each bill discussed on the floor of each house. While I wish I could say we received funding for all of our needs, the unusually tight fiscal climate this session means most of our exceptional item requests did not receive favorable review. The House allows for floor amendments to the budget. This is the only remaining opportunity for substantive changes to the budget before Conferen...

AUSTIN, Texas – Governor Greg Abbott has appointed James Castro, Stephanie Moreno, and Allison Palmer and reappointed Pama Hencerling and Jimmy Smith to the Texas Juvenile Justice Board for terms set to expire February 1, 2023. The Board is charged to develop and implement 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. James Castro of Bergheim is the president and CEO of SAMSAT – San Antonio Museum of Science & Technology and former CEO of St. Peter – St. Joseph Children’s Home. He is licensed as a Professional Counselor, Marriage and Family Therapist and a Professional Counselor Supervisor. He currently serves on the Task Force on Improving Outcomes for Juveniles Adjudicated of Sexual Offenses. He has supported many organizations including, the Texas Alliance of Child Family Services, Knights of Col...

BROWNWOOD, Texas – This past summer, Lone Star High School West at Ron Jackson State Juvenile Correctional Complex worked to beautify the atrium in the center of the school. Students, along with teachers and JCO’s, painted concrete benches in a variety of colors and designs. During the Fall 2016 semester, the school decided to continue the beautification by building a picnic table in one of the woodshop classes and planting flowers. In addition, the decision was made to finish the benches by holding a competition. The students were asked to create a design for a bench that fit the theme of “Believe in yourself, achieve your goals, be a success.” Staff then selected four benches that best fit the theme. The atrium is currently used for staff and student events, as well as for some class activities. The upgrades to the benches give students ownership and pride in their school.

AUSTIN, Texas – A resolution was filed in the Texas House of Representatives in December designating January 24, 2017, as Juvenile Justice Professional Day in Texas. HR 53, filed by Representative James White of District 19 in East Texas, recognizes the valuable and often difficult work performed daily by more than 10,000 juvenile justice professionals at the county and state level throughout Texas. There are more than 8,200 certified juvenile probation and supervision officers working at the county level in Texas, “work(ing) tirelessly and courageously to help rehabilitate young people, handling 100 percent of the referrals received into the juvenile justice system each year and providing ongoing services at the local level to 95 percent of those referrals.” At the state level, more than 2,000 juvenile corrections officers, caseworkers, teachers, parole officers, medical and special service providers provide supervision and support to nearly 1,700 youth each year. As noted in HR...