TJJD News & Announcements

Pam Gereau has received the TJJD Employee Excellence Award for the month of August. Gereau began her employment with the agency in April 2002 as an Administrative Investigator for the County Unit and is currently a Senior Administration Investigator with the Administrative Investigations Division (AID). She has demonstrated “extraordinary effort in improving her skillset and she is arguably our best investigator,” wrote Kevin DuBose, director of Administrative Investigations “In honing her craft, Pam has proven herself to be an exceptional sexual abuse investigator” and demonstrates “an unusual ability to develop rapport with earn the trust of victims of sexual abuse,” DuBose wrote. In addition to being an excellent investigator, Pam has embraced her role as a tenured employee and become a reliable mentor to her peers, said DuBose, who nominated Gereau, citing her competency, character, resilience and commitment to the agency. Perhaps Gereau’s secret to maintainin...

Lidia Velazquez, who works as a parole service assistant in the Fort Worth District Office, is the only electronic monitoring specialist in the state juvenile justice system. This comes with a lot of responsibility, as she handles every single electronic monitor placed on TJJD youth. It is a job she handles with professionalism and a clear understanding of the policy involved, said Billy Branch, the parole officer who nominated Velasquez for the TJJD Employee Excellence Award for the month of July. Velazquez also is bilingual, which makes her invaluable to the Fort Worth office, where she often helps facilitate meetings between parole officers and Spanish-speaking families. But she goes a step beyond simple translating, Branch wrote. “Her demeanor and personality puts those families at ease to the point that they feel comfortable relaying valuable information concerning the state of our youth,” he said. As parole assistant, she helps out in countless ways that are not strictly spelle...

Xavier Casares, a commander who oversees the South Division of the Office of Inspector General, received the TJJD Employee Excellence Award for the month of June. Lt. Casares, who has worked for TJJD since April 2013, was cited for his contagious spirit of cooperation and professionalism and for serving as a mentor to those serving in police communications within the Incident Reporting Center. “Commander Xavier Casares has motivated and strengthened our drive in our respective fields to become better TJJD employees,” said a fellow employee. “His number one priority is the safety and the well-being of youth at our facilities as well as TJJD employees and because of that, he molded the IRC to provide better ways of communication and strategy to do so.” He “believes in the capabilities of the IRC Specialists” and makes himself available to them. “He never shies away from a challenge and his door is always open whenever we have a question, an issue or simply need advice,” sa...

Noel Ruiz, an Inventory and Store Specialist working in the Business Operations and Contracts Division, received the TJJD Employee Excellence Award for the month for May. Ruiz, who began working for the agency in April 2008, has demonstrated commitment, dedication and initiative in a job that operates behind the scenes and is rarely recognized, unless something goes wrong, according to his supervisor, Director of Business Operations & Contracts Kenneth Ming. Ruiz helps assure that everyone has the supplies they need, singlehandedly receiving all the commodity goods purchased by and shipped to Central Office. He also manages TJJD’s – wait for it – $195 million in assets. Wrote Ming in recommending Ruiz for recognition: “While I have the title of Agency Property Manager, Noel does all of the work and gets very little credit. He does the annual inventory, identifies missing items, does administrative work in CAPPS, disposes, transfers and retires assets.” And then Ming ...

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...

Cherish Yenzer, a curriculum developer who’s been with the agency since 2014, is the February 2018 recipient of the TJJD Employee Excellence Award. Yenzer has worked on developing curricula for Juvenile Health; Juvenile Rights; Professional Communication; Professional Ethics and Reporting; Human Trafficking; Use of Force; Gang Awareness and other training modules. She works exceptionally hard to produce quality work, collaborates in a positive way with peers to find workable solutions to issues and takes great pride in all that she accomplishes, says her supervisor Kristy Almager, director of the Juvenile Justice Training Academy. Yenzer receives a certificate of appreciation and the option of choosing a $50 gift card or 8 hours of executive leave.

Velre Boyd, an investigator with the Administrative Investigations Division (AID), has been with TJJD/TYC for more than 27 years. She’s dedicated her career to protecting youth rights through her work with AID. Boyd stands out as cool under pressure, conducting investigations with grace and demonstrating compassion to all parties involved, her supervisors say. This was evident to all when she had to act as the sole investigator at a facility while a colleague was on leave. During this time, Boyd had to investigate the death of a youth in custody while also handling all other local AID investigations. Her supervisors, who know the difficulty and sadness associated with investigating a youth death, were impressed with how she never buckled while working under considerable pressure. Boyd is a relentless, thorough, dedicated investigator and a tremendous asset to the agency, says AID Director Kevin DuBose. Boyd also has worked as a case manager and youth rights specialist at TJJD. ...