TJJD News & Announcements

DALLAS, Texas –  Youth at Cottrell took the lead in selecting the new look for their dorm rooms and living areas. “The youth gathered together and discussed themes in which would be an inspiration, leisure activity, or a future goal to help guide them,” said Cottrell Superintendent Marketa Johnson. The result: An homage to football, basketball and living right. The youths painted the term “SWAG” on the wall in a crisp, graphic design and spelled out what it stands for -- Success, Willpower, Attitude, Goals. They stenciled basketball players and hoops on another wall, which now declares “Shoot for Your Goals!” Staff at Cottrell used the home improvement exercise to engage the youth in the Youth in Custody Practice Model (YICPM) that sets new goals for TJJD to “soften the environment” for kids in custody, thus creating a more productive living and learning setting, Johnson said. The teens took their task to heart, painting the sports iconography and even replic...

DALLAS, Texas – Advisory Councils (DYRAC) A.R.T. Program for youth at Cottrell House. A.R.T. stands for Assessing Real Talent. The program is meant to teach youth how to improve their talents as well as give them resources to pull from for future use. Wachelle Williams, DYRAC Chairperson stated, “Many of the youth at Cottrell House are so talented in music, cooking, sports and many other areas. I want to make sure that they have resources and contacts to help them pursue their talents.” With that goal in mind, DYRAC applied for and received a grant from the State Volunteer Resource Council to help youth reach their potential in the A.R.T. Program. Cherika (Che) Roundtree of Strictly DFW Radio is an active member of DYRAC. She also mentors youth at Cottrell House and knows firsthand of the talent that many youth have. Che stated, “Youth have talents that need to be guided. I want to help youth that are interested in the music business.” Lavator (Ms. T) Jefferson, Artist Manager, a...

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...

DALLAS, Texas – Cottrell House youth recently had the rare opportunity to provide guidance to future juvenile justice workers currently studying at the University of Texas at Arlington. TJJD youth eagerly participated in a learning session, making an impact with people who are interested in helping juveniles make better decisions. The Cottrell House youth provided the UTA students with background information on why youth commit crimes. Youth informed students that committing crimes is a learned behavior, usually from family members or friends. Youth CG encouraged students remain positive and be patient when working with juveniles. Youth DJ told students that he has made positive changes to his life and now he is ready to go home. He says that he has learned to control himself and think before he acts. DJ told the group that he plans on joining the military once he is released from TJJD. Youth JL told students that he made several mistakes in the past by not listening to the peo...

DALLAS, Texas – Giving to others to create smiles was the purpose of youth at Cottrell House making Christmas ornaments to donate to the children at Scottish Rite Hospital. The youth at Cottrell House wanted to make Christmas special for young children that were unable to spend Christmas at home. Volunteer Shellita Garrett was excited to work with youth to help them design special Christmas ornaments to put smiles on the faces of children. When other volunteers heard about the youth plans of donating ornaments, they were excited to assist. Shellita supplied paints, glitter, and clear Christmas ornaments. The youth supplied the creativity and designs for each ornament. Once all the ornaments were completed, the Iron Guardians took the ornaments to the Scottish Rite Hospital so that the children could smile. Cottrell House youth did more than just create ornaments for children; they learned that working together for a greater good is powerful. They had so much fun that they wanted to c...

Cottrell House youth honored Black History Month by celebrating all cultures and their achievements. Youth made this decision because they each recognized that they all have a culture and heritage that they are proud of and want to share. Youth worked together and agreed to prepare a meal from each of their cultures. An important part of the agreement was that everyone had to participate by cooking not only their culture’s food, but other cultures as well. Stephanie Howell, GED teacher at Cottrell House, expressed her pride in the youth for deciding to honor all culture groups. She said, “We normally have a cooking class twice a month for youth. I taught youth how to search for recipes on different internet cooking sites. We started with making cookies and then we prepared food for Thanksgiving. I was surprised when the youth decided to celebrate Black History month by cooking foods from all different cultures of the youth at Cottrell House. This was something they decided and pla...