TJJD News & Announcements

MART, Texas – On Saturday, May 6, Mart Residual Treatment Center hosted their mother/son luncheon to allow the youth to celebrate Mother’s Day. Nineteen youth and 42 family members participated in the event. Families were served a holiday meal and then participated in a worship service. At the end of the event, several boys presented poems and sang songs they dedicated to their mothers. Each youth also presented his mother/guardian with a Mother’s Day card and a rose bush they could take home and plant, signifying the beauty of their relationship and growth and blossoming of their child making changes in his life. PHOTO: A Mart youth and his mother celebrating Mother’s Day.

GIDDINGS, Texas – On March 31, 2017, Giddings State School welcomed friends, family, and volunteers to a graduation ceremony where 31 students received their GEDs and three students were awarded their high school diplomas. The Texas Juvenile Justice Department’s Lone Star High School Southeast is a fully accredited high school where students work to earn their GED or diplomas. After graduation, they have the opportunity to earn certification in various vocations or earn college credits. Giddings State School offers certifications in fields like automotive technologies, welding, and general construction and works with outside instructors to provide OSHA and CPS certifications. During their stay at TJJD, youth can earn college credits through Navarro College and apply for scholarships to help with their transition after they return home. For more information or to inquire about how you can help, please call Anita Schwartz, Community Relations Coordinator for Giddings State School a...

GIDDINGS, Texas – Giddings State School hosted its 2017 Victim Impact Panel (VIP) on Sunday, April 1st and Monday, April 2nd. The highly emotional gathering featured several crime victims and their families meeting with youth and staff at the facility. The event began with snacks and fellowship shared between VIP members, the Giddings youth student council, and Giddings State School staff. Aside from the many smiles shared between attendees, a wonderful program was held outdoors at the flagpole, which highlighted the true essence of the event. Giddings Superintendent Jorge Gonzalez declared April 2-9 Victim Impact Week and members of the student council shared their favorite quotes of healing and forgiveness. The event wrapped up with a balloon release in which youth, staff, and volunteers alike wrote messages of love, remembrance, and healing on their balloons in hopes of bringing a small measure of comfort to themselves and those around them. Monday was a day of sharing as VI...

AUSTIN, Texas – TJJD began piloting the juvenile supervision officer certification exam in February and the last phase of the pilotbegan earlier this month. The pilot will be conducted over a six-month period and the exam will not be required for certification until September 1, 2017. To date, we have collected valuable data to be used as we move toward the final set of questions that will be used for the exam. We continue to ask departments or facilities to assist us with the pilot and have any new or existing staff take the exam. Continued feedback is always welcomed. The pilot will be for data collection only and not to give official credit for passing the exam. The link to access the third and final pilot may be found online on the Juvenile Justice Training Academy’s site. As of the end of May, we had 410 individuals attempt the test statewide, with an average score of 86.25%. The average time to take the exam has been 20 minutes. Only 1% (5) of the individuals who have attem...

By Doug Vance, PhD, Advisory Council Chair AUSTIN, Texas – Background: Almost a decade ago, the Texas Legislature instructed the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (TJPC) to develop Standards of Care (Administrative Rules) that would govern non-secure residential facilities operated by local Juvenile Probation Boards. At that time, there were approximately eleven such programs being operated in Texas by nine different Juvenile Probation Departments. While several of these programs were licensed by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, several others were operating without independent state oversight. As such, TJPC initiated a standards development project. However, due to a variety of circumstances, the project was left pending for several years and never completed. In October 2012, newly appointed TJJD Executive Director, Mike Griffiths, met with Doug Vance and addressed the Standards Committee requesting that the committee’s next project involve the draftin...

EDINBURG, Texas – Evins Regional Juvenile Center celebrated the Easter weekend by having a daylong family event. The day was filled with food, music, a variety of games, and an Easter egg hunt for Evins youth and youth that have children. The event was partially funded by volunteers and the Evins Volunteer Council, now renamed the South Texas Youth Council. PHOTO: Father and son enjoying a beautiful day at Evins Easter egg Hunt

BROWNWOOD, Texas – The 2017 Earth Day project at the Brownwood Halfway House was a study on Monarch Butterfly Conservation. Staff and the young ladies discussed the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly and the importance of butterflies to the eco-system. Three staff and five youth traveled to a Mullin farm to harvest milkweed and look for caterpillars and/or eggs. While enjoying their time outdoors, they found three caterpillars and dug up several plants to transplant at the halfway house. The caterpillars were placed in a mesh cage and are being supplied fresh milkweed every few days until they undergo metamorphosis. So far, one caterpillar has already transformed into a chrysalis! Also, with the help of groundskeeper/horticulturist Charlie Hubbard, milkweed seeds have been planted in a wildflower patch next to the halfway house. Once the butterflies are born, they will be released to this wildflower patch. This also creates a habitat for the butterflies for years to come. Mr. Hu...

FORT WORTH, Texas – Willoughby House youth are gaining a new and valuable skill thanks to the efforts of JCO IV Christopher Golden. Mr. Golden has created a woodworking class for youth who are interested in refurbishing furniture. Mr. Golden said he initiated this project because, “I wanted to provide the guys with an opportunity to stay busy and learn a craft, which they can later use as an opportunity to generate income. One youth has expressed to me that he wants to pursue this as a possible career, since he enjoys it so much.” Mr. Golden has donated most of the supplies, such as a sander, paint, stain, paintbrushes, and other items as needed to complete the projects. So far, the youth have completed two end tables, a card table, and they are currently working on refurbishing the television stand in the facility. Other staff have donated items for the youth to work on as well. Mr. Golden stated that this was a craft that he’s been doing for the past ten years and wanted to g...

AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Juvenile Justice Department served as a lead agency in Texas for the twelfth consecutive year and convened a coalition of 23 partners for the 28th Annual Global Youth Service Day (GYSD). Youth Service America hosted the global event, held during April, and it is now the largest service event in the world and celebrated in over 100 countries. During GYSD, children and youth address the world’s most critical issues in partnership with families, schools, community and faith-based organizations, businesses, and governments. Our state-operated facilities were joined by eleven county juvenile probation departments, and seven public school campuses across the state, to implement a total of 72 service-learning projects focusing on issues like kindness/tolerance, poverty, hunger and homelessness, bullying, violence and safety, public health, environment, pollution and beautification, literacy, and human rights. Nearly 1,200 youth logged a total of 5,246 hours of se...

DALLAS, Texas – Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) is about learning the needs of your community and giving your time and energy to help others. Youth at the Cottrell House and youth on parole in Dallas County decided that they wanted to understand 1) how the homeless population in Dallas is receiving help and 2) what makes cancer so difficult to cure. Youth decided that they wanted to work at two different locations to help the homeless — City Square and at the Bridge, which is the largest homeless shelter in Dallas. They also wanted to visit UT Southwestern Medical Center to learn about cancer. When youth arrived at City Square, they were amazed that there was an actual shopping pantry for homeless people. Youth received a tour of the pantry and were shocked that the pantry had a freezer that held frozen foods which has meats and vegetables for the homeless. Youth met homeless individuals at the entrance, grabbed a shopping cart, and began to help the homeless choose foods off the s...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Art teacher Debra Mersky is back this spring at Ayres House providing weekly art classes to the youth. The classes have evolved to include a cooking class every fourth session. Obviously, with growing teenagers a class that offers an extra meal through the day is always a house favorite.