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...
The Texas Juvenile Justice Department: Transforming Young Lives and Creating Safer Communities