TJJD News & Announcements

The Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter threw a “Very Merry Un-Birthday Party” on April 13 at the McLennan County State Juvenile Correctional Facility (MCSJCF) in Mart. Forty-four youth and 111 family members attended the “Alice in Wonderland”-themed party and spent the afternoon playing party games together. Volunteers with the McLennan County Community Resource Council for Troubled Texas Youth served hotdogs, chips, cupcakes, and punch/water to the youth and their families. Families were permitted to bring an “un-birthday” present to their child during this event, in lieu of a gift for their child’s actual birthdate, which is not allowed. The gifts had to be one of four designated items - a pair of socks, a pair of house shoes, an age-appropriate book or a pair of pajamas, in black, white or gray or some combination of that. All gifts were inspected as family members entered the facility, and turned over to staff. Mary Garrity, family liaison, organized the Family...

Youth from Ayres Halfway House in San Antonio participated in an exciting event on April 12. Pam Colaw, the Director of Hidden Springs Youth Ranch, brought two of her cowboy ropers to teach our youth how to rope steers. The cowboys spent the evening teaching the techniques of roping. Our youth really enjoyed this event and have been invited to tour her ranch and ride the 10 therapy horses there sometime soon.

Several staff members from Gainesville State School participated in murder mystery theater event benefiting the Visto food bank last week. The food bank assists more than 17,000 people in crisis in the Cooke County area and has raised more than $140,000 for these families. The Visto (Volunteers In Service to Others) Vintage Murder Mystery posited a crime in which “Barry Underwood” met his doom somewhere in wine country. The mission: Sniff out the perpetrator. Team Gainesville was on it, interviewing Underwood’s fiancé “Tina Bubbles,” his cousin “Ralph Rottingrape,” beauty queen “Marilyn Merlot,” Hollywood movie star, “Hedy Shablee,” owner of a neighboring vineyard and “Papa Vino,” who helped develop the Underwood Wine Estates. There’s more, but you get the idea. Game participants each got to interview two suspects and then came together with their respective teams to deliberate and try to solve the murder. After putting on their Colombo hats, (but not really) the team determi...

DENTON, Texas -- The Kiwanis Club of Denton recognized nine youth from McFadden Ranch who earned their high school diploma or equivalency by inviting them to their April 17 noon meeting and luncheon where they were awarded $50 each for their trust fund. Spearheaded by JCO IV Gregory Winn, a longstanding member of the Kiwanis Club of Denton, the event was truly memorable for the youth who attended. They heard a motivational and moving presentation by Texas Rep. Pat Fallon, who completed the Greatest Endurance Challenge – the World Marathon Challenge – tackling seven marathons in seven days on seven continents. He took the challenge after being inspired by Jonny Wade, a 7-year-old boy who battled pediatric cancer and had only one wish – ‘that no other kid ever gets cancer.’ Wade’s death led to the creation of Pediatric Cancer Foundation for which Fallon raised over $250,000 so far. Fallon, who represents a portion of Denton County, said the takeaway from his experience is that we ...

GIDDINGS, Texas -- The term victim can suggest helplessness, but victims of crimes turned that into empowerment during a commemoration of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week April 7-13 at the Giddings State School. Members of the Victim Impact Panel, a group of volunteers from across Texas who use their st ories to help others understand the lasting impact victims sustain, visited the school and talked with the youth in custody. The volunteers held discussions and question-and-answer sessions with the young men in their dorms, raising awareness about how victims suffer, long after a crime has occurred. The event kicked off with a candle light vigil service that concluded with a balloon release. “Overall, Giddings State School has made a commitment to highlight the strength of the victim and provide support because the victim does matter,” said Jorge Gonzalez, facility superintendent.

This year’s winners of the Innovation Grants include practical new programs that will help TJJD youth learn how to make simple house repairs, maintain cars and improve their physical fitness and emotional well-being. The grants, which total $10,000, are made possible by the State Volunteer Resource Council for Texas Youth. Judges report they had a difficult task winnowing the many deserving proposals to the eight winning projects announced last week. Here are the winners: HOME REPAIR MADE EASY (WILLOUGHBY HALFWAY HOUSE) Grant Award: $700 In this project, community volunteers will teach the youth at the halfway house how to make simple home repairs through hands-on learning. They will focus on repairing floors, drywall and painting, and landscaping, and youth will complete a 12-week course. Grant funds will be used to purchase supplies, equipment and tools for the repair projects. CAR SMART (MCFADDEN RANCH) Grant Award: $500 Community volunteers will te...

Jeanette Vrabel is the TJJD Employee Excellence Award winner for Central Office. Vrabel began her employment with the agency in November of 2015 as a Senior Contract Specialist and has become a “rock star” of that department, handling some of the most complex contracts for TJJD and more than $40 million in contracts overall. “With over 25 years state service and over 12 years of experience in contracts, she always get the job done in the most cost efficient way,” wrote her nominating colleague. “. . . She is merciless in her management of vendors and service providers, holding each accountable for providing the best quality services we expect and are paying for.” Outside of work, Vrabel enjoys spending time with family and friends, and she likes to get outdoors, whether for work or pleasure. She will receive a reserved parking, certificate of appreciation and the option for a $50 gift card or 8 hours of Executive leave.

Diane Laffoon, a training specialist, is the April 2018 recipient of the TJJD Employee Excellence Award for Central Office. Laffoon, who began her employment with the agency in January 2004 as a professional certification specialist, continues to be “the hub of the certification wheel for all juvenile justice across the state of Texas,” according to her nomination. She provides excellent customer service to all those with whom she works to get training properly documented, and “despite challenges with technology and many daily questions from the field, she is always helpful and diligent.” She communicates items for follow-up that don’t necessarily even fall into her purview, because she wants to help others connect with the right person, wrote the colleague who nominated her. Friends and co-workers know Laffoon to be an avid fan of the Cleveland Indians baseball team.  Laffoon also is a songwriter and onetime drummer. She will receive a reserved parking, certi...

Rebecca Walters began her career at Texas Youth Commission as a fresh-out-of-college intern at the Giddings State School in 1991 and rose to become the director of Youth Placement and Program Development for the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. Walters, who retired in March, was known as an innovator at TJJD and TYC, having worked on developing agency efficiencies and responsivity to youth needs in many capacities, including 10 years working across divisions directly on those specific issues. She helped improve leadership and succession planning, case management and treatment models. Recently she served as project manager of the Youth in Custody Practice Model (YICPM), a wide-ranging effort to assure the agency’s full alignment with national best practices. She also helped lead the Racial and Ethnic Disparities (RED) Work Group, which has generated new strategies to counter racial and ethnic disparities among youth and employees. Walters served in several capacities at...

Chef Chad Houser of Dallas became a “CNN Hero” last week, featured in an article and video that highlights his work with Dallas County at-risk youth. The many other heroes of the story are the dozens of young men and women who’ve lifted themselves up and found a path toward a lawful life and productive career by training in the culinary arts under Houser’s tutelage. Their story is one of working together for success. It starts in 2011, when Houser began volunteering to teach kids in Dallas County juvenile detention how to cook. He discovered that many of the youth had simply failed to draw the best cards in life; they’d endured poverty, violence and had veered into crime. Their stories drew Houser in and he built the program up to became a full-fledged enterprise in which at-risk youth work alongside professionals at a high end restaurant, Café Momentum, in the heart of downtown Dallas. Café Momentum is truly upscale, with the requisite elements, like $40 bottles of wine and ex...

GAINESVILLE, Texas – Staff and volunteers at Gainesville State School recently honored longtime volunteer Bill West on his 90th birthday. West has been enrolled as a volunteer at the Gainesville State School since February 2000, where he is a former employee, having worked as a grounds keeper and the warehouse manager. Since his retirement in 1995 he has helped with Catholic religious education of the youth.  He and his wife Mary organized monthly birthday parties on the dorms, as well as Christmas parties. He has participated and organized many Catholic chapel services, ACTS Ministry retreats, as well as mentored many youth while they were here. West has been very active in his church and in the area volunteer resource council, where he is a past president and vice president. In 2009, West was part of the Group of the Year awards winner for the work in the ACTs retreat. At the volunteer appreciation banquet in October 2015, West and his wife Mary received the Family Volunt...