TJJD News & Announcements

GAINESVILLE, Texas – It’s hard to believe it has already been a year since PAWS (Pairing Achievement With Service) came to the Gainesville campus. The program, in place since June 2016, has done very well by both human and dog standards. Many dogs have been adopted, with one going on to do therapy work in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. PAWS also recently acquired a service dog in training from Service Dogs Inc. that will soon go to formal training at their Dripping Springs facility and be paired with a client in need. Youth from the Gainesville facility did an incredible job building the one and only PAWS Dog Park for the program. Youth, along with the help and supervision of welding teachers Denver Foster and Dennis Westerlin, and Carl Motley, Director of Security, constructed, welded, and painted the dog park structure. “It was really a lot of hard work… and hot!” stated one youth who contributed his welding skills to the project. Members from the Gainesville Student Support Counc...

GAINESVILLE, Texas – High School youth from the Denton Police Youth Summer Program, along with four Denton Police Officers, enjoyed a tour of the Gainesville State School in July. The School Resource Officers hand select students from the assigned campuses. There are middle school, high school, and girls programs that have been operating since 2010. Officer Keith Adams who coordinates the tours each year states, “I am involved because I want to continue to help make positive changes in kids’ lives. There is no greater feeling than to be in the position to open up a kid’s imagination, keep them out of harm’s way, and steer them in the right direction.” While on campus, youth see what a dorm looks like, hear from young residents, tour the security unit, and see campus life. When asked why he chooses to bring youth to the Gainesville State School, Officer Adams replied, “I felt that the facility would provide the kids with the opportunity to see what the inside of a confined facili...

GAINESVILLE, Texas – Late at night on July 21, a young man escaped from the Gainesville State School, and an exceptional team effort ensured that he was found the very next day. Employees from TJJD State Programs, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, local law enforcement, and TJJD Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigators from Gainesville, Brownwood, Mart, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin all answered the call that night. Sgt. Gabriel Medellin was contacted at approximately 2:00 a.m., on July 22. He left San Antonio for Gainesville at approximately 6:00 a.m. to meet with other investigators and begin searching for the youth. At approximately 12:25 p.m., Sgt. Medellin observed a male walking down a highway in Gainesville who matched the description of the youth. Sgt. Medellin made contact, confirmed his identity, and made the arrest without incident. He was assisted by OIG Sergeants Walker Willey (Ron Jackson) and Tom Hamilton (Mart). OIG Chief Forrest Mitchell s...

Every six weeks, all TJJD education departments participate in a Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) incentive program, which addresses the youth’s individual ability to reach a set of identified expectations and behavior goals. This helps facilitate and shape behavior while building and reinforcing coping skills through targeted skill development. Overall, this offers the students directed practice, staff opportunity for modeling of pro-social skills, and positive reinforcement of targeted progress. The goal is to help youth reduce negative behavior while developing corresponding positive behaviors to build longterm, internalized changes in behavior. Below is a description of the PBIS Incentive Day held agency-wide on September 16, 2016. Gainesville: PBIS is going strong at the Gainesville State School. The last incentive was the largest yet with 68 students participating. The teachers came in early and prepared a home cooked breakfast for the students that included scra...