Key themes are in ORANGE.  

INTRODUCTION

Despite its reputation for being tough on crime, in the last ten years Texas has developed some of the most progressive approaches to youth crime in the country. Realizing the high cost and limited effectiveness of imprisonment, the state has begun treating most young offenders as kids who need help--even if they are armed and dangerous. These approaches are being backed by many seasoned law enforcement officials.

TARRANT COUNTY PROGRESSIVE SANCTIONS

Guided by the belief that early, appropriate and community-based intervention for young offenders is most likely to produce permanent change, Tarrant County's Juvenile Services has designed its programs with the goal of identifying problems and providing appropriate interventions at the earliest point. In 1996, the county adopted Texas State Progressive Sanction Guidelines, which provide a series of consequences and outcomes for juvenile offenders that are designed to balance public protection, offender accountability and rehabilitation. With the assistance of state funding, the department has developed a range of community-and home-based programs to form a comprehensive response for at-risk youth. Programs in the continuum range from prevention and early intervention to secure incarceration, designed to assist youth at each sanction level. Many of the services are provided by separate not-for-profit agencies.

Contacts:
Carey Cockerell, Director of Juvenile Services
Jerry Wood, Assistant Director of Juvenile Services
Tarrant County Juvenile Services
2701 Kimbo road
Fort Worth, TX 76111
(817) 838-4643
(817) 838-4646 Fax

TARRANT COUNTY ADVOCATE PROGRAM (T-CAP)

As a part of Tarrant County's continuum of services, T-CAP is a home-based intensive intervention program for high-risk, adjudicated juveniles and their families. It is part of a national non-profit umbrella organization, the Youth Advocate Program, that bases all programs on a wrap-around service model that provides comprehensive services to families and kids. The program treats wider educational, employment, social and health needs of juvenile offenders on probation, as well as providing extended supervision under contract to the local probation department, to ensure they comply with the terms of their sentence. Their "wrap around" service addresses the needs of the whole family as well, by providing support, guidance, and economic assistance.

Research shows that mentoring is one of the most effective elements of intervention if it is structured and disciplined, with obligations demanded from the young person as well. T-CAP provides mentoring and intensive supervision by hiring local people to act as advocates for roughly $7 an hour. The advocate supervises the youth and coordinates services for the family for anywhere from fifteen to thirty hours a week, depending on the level of need. They take their clients to court, school, and community service, as well as to the sporting events, movies, and other leisure activities.

Another important factor in crime prevention is the development of job skills for youth. Because employers are especially reluctant to hire adjudicated young people, T-CAP conducts programs to encourage local businesses to give youth a chance and be tolerant of their initial differences. The program pays $5 per hour to the business, which in turn, uses the money to pay the youth's salary.

Contact:
Belinda Hampton, Director
T-CAP North
2235 N. Main
Fort Worth, TX 76106
(817) 625-4185
(817) 625-4187 Fax

Contact:
Tom Jeffers, President
Youth Advocate Program
2007 North Third Street
Harrisburg, PA 17102
(717) 232-7580
(717) 233-2879 Fax

PATHWAYS LEARNING CENTER

In an effort to keep adjudicated kids in school, the Pathways Learning Center-- also part of the Tarrant County continuum of services--provides alternative schooling and wrap-around services for middle school age students who are on probation and expelled from public school. The center provides classroom instruction, intensive probation supervision, and family -focused therapeutic intervention, which includes behavior management and skills-development.

Contact: Marihelen Wieberg, Community Corrections Supervisor
Tarrant County Juvenile Services
2701 Kimbo road
Fort Worth, TX 76111

VICTIM OFFENDER MEDIATION/DIALOGUE
TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Victims are still on the margins of the justice process, even though their views are now taken into account by the court. Research shows they want 1) reassurance the crime won't happen again 2) an explanation about why they were chosen 3) an apology and reparation (if appropriate) 4) punishment.

Victim offender mediation is the principal form of an approach to reparation called Restorative justice, which deals with the damage done by crime in a way that seeks to complete these four elements. The Victim Offender Mediation/Dialogue program, run by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Victims Services Department, facilitates structu#FF9830 face-to-face meetings between victims of violent crimes and their offenders. This ground-breaking effort allows victims the opportunity for a healing experience in a safe, secure environment, while giving offenders the rare chance to face the suffering created by their violent actions. Victim Offender mediation and other methods of restorative justice by no means function to replace punishment. The process tends to be a victim-centered effort for personal restoration.

Contact:
David Doefler, State Coordinator
Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Victims Services
8610 Shoal Creek Blvd.
Austin, TX 78758
(512) 406-5441
(512) 406-5417 Fax

TEXAS YOUTH COMMISSION

Although Texas locks up more people per 100,000 than any other Western republic, and has more people on Death Row than any other state, Texas tends to view young offenders as good kids who made bad choices; kids who can be rehabilitated. The Texas Youth Commission is the agency responsible for the care, custody, control, and rehabilitation of youth adjudicated for law violations throughout the state. It operates under the following mandates: 1) to protect the public, 2) to enable productivity of youth, 3) to rehabilitate youth and 4) to prevent delinquency. Its current model for rehabilitation is known as the Resocialization Approach, an innovative, comprehensive model that includes behavior management and skills training while addressing the underlying belief system, feelings and unmet needs that fuel delinquent behavior.

Contacts:
Steve Robinson, Executive Director
(512) 424-6004
Dr. Linda Reyes, Associate Executive Director of Rehabilitation Services
(512) 424-6150
Texas Youth Commission
4900 North Lamar Blvd., Box 4260
Austin, TX 78765
web: http://www.tyc.state.tx.us/
Linda Reyes
(512) 424-6000 (x6152)

GIDDINGS STATE SCHOOL'S CAPITAL OFFENDER GROUP TREATMENT PROGRAM

As a part of the Texas Youth Commission, the Giddings State School houses Texas' most violent juvenile offenders. A noteworthy effort, the Capitol Offender Program is a 16 week long intensive group therapy treatment that helps youth address the underlying motivations for their violent behavior while developing coping strategies in response to their emotions. The program has substantially reduced recidivism rates among the youth it has treated.

Contact:
Dr. Corinne Alvarez-Sanders, Director of Clinical Treatment
Giddings State School
P.O. Box 600
Giddings, TX 78942-0600
(409) 542-3686 x298
(409) 542-0177 Fax

SOUTHWEST KEY PROGRAM, INC.

The Southwest Key Program, Inc. offers a continuum of community-based programs for adjudicated juveniles in Texas, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Puerto Rico. In Dallas (featured in In Search of Law and Order), it operates a highly structured, secure residential facility where young offenders live, receive counseling, and learn discipline and responsibility to help their transition back into the community. Encouraging family involvement is an integral part of the treatment at Southwest Key.

Run by a Methodist minister, Reverend Martin McLee, the Southwest Key program in Dallas also demonstrates the vital role the church can play in the reintegration of young offenders. For youth who need a sense of security and approval and a source of identity that they previously sought from a gang, the church can offer kind of acceptance that is positively welcomed by young men trying to find a way to live a law abiding life when they finish their sentence.

Contact:
Anita Mennucci, Director of Communications
Southwest Key Program, Inc.
3000 South I-H 35, Suite 410
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 462-2181
(512) 452-4637
email: amennucci@swkey.org