Overview of the Texas Youth Commission's Specialized Treatment Programs

• NCJ Number: 189749
• Author(s): Trilby Wheeler-Cox
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 24 pages
• Corporate Author: Texas Criminal Justice Policy Council
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services; Texas Criminal Justice Policy Council
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded August 17, 2001.

Annotation

The Texas Youth Commission (TYC) is the State juvenile correctional agency; this report presents an overview of the agency's rehabilitation programs and establishes the foundation for the Criminal Justice Policy Council (CJPC) to monitor the effectiveness of the agency's specialized treatment programs.

Abstract

All youth committed to TYC participate in the agency's Resocialization Program, which is a competency-based program that involves correctional therapy, disciplinary training, education, and work. Youth move gradually from high restriction and confinement to parole, based on minimum lengths of stay and demonstrated mastery of rehabilitation objectives in each phase. In addition, TYC operates specialized treatment programs. Only juveniles classified as high risk or in high need of specialized treatment participate in these programs. These treatment programs are the Chemical Dependency Treatment Program, Sex Offender Treatment Program, Capital Offender Treatment Program, and Emotionally Disturbed Offender Treatment Program. This report describes each of these programs. Of youth released from TYC facilities in 1998, 59 percent (3,412) needed specialized treatment. Of those in need, 53 percent received treatment during their institutional stay. Youth who receive specialized treatment are eligible for specialized aftercare programs. In 1998, however, 53 percent of the youth who received residential treatment did not receive aftercare services upon release. This was due, in part, to a lack of service providers in rural regions. The average State cost in fiscal year 1998 for specialized treatment programs ranged from $13.73 per day for the Sex Offender Treatment Program to $22.72 per day for the Capital Offender Treatment Program. These costs did not include incarceration costs. The CJPC, working with TYC, will develop and evaluate plans to monitor the cost-effectiveness of these programs in reducing recidivism or in achieving other beneficial outcomes. Extensive tabular and graphic data