NCJ Number
241916
Date Published
December 2012
Length
90 pages
Annotation
This is the 2012 Annual Report of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD), which was created December 1, 2011, as a combination of the functions of the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (TJPC).
Abstract
The TJJD acts as a unified State juvenile justice agency that works in partnership with county governments, the courts, and communities to promote public safety by providing a full continuum of effective supports and services to youth from initial contact through termination of supervision. It is committed to the achievement of five objectives. First, it is responsible for assuring accountability, quality, consistency, and transparency through effective monitoring and the use of system-wide performance measures. Second, it promotes the use of program and service designs and interventions proven to be most effective in rehabilitating youth. Third, it prioritizes the use of community-based or family-based programs and services for youth over the placement or commitment of youth to a secure facility. Fourth, it operates the State facilities so as to effectively house and rehabilitate the youthful offenders who cannot be safely served in another setting. Fifth, it protects and enhances the cooperative agreements between State and county governments. In pursuing these objectives, the TJJD allocates funds appropriated by the Texas Legislature in the form of grants that assist local juvenile boards in operating juvenile probation departments, juvenile detention and correction facilities, and providing basic and special services to youth in the juvenile probation systems. In fiscal year 2012, county funding accounted for approximately 72 percent of total juvenile probation funding, and State and Federal funding accounted for approximately 28 percent. New and continued funding in 2012 targeted four functions: diversion from institutionalization, juvenile mental health services, a Web-based case management system, and serving misdemeanor probationers. Nine appendixes with data and information and extensive tables