Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Teen drug court in Beaumont diverts youth from TYC

I was interested to learn that Jefferson County (Beaumont) is using a drug court model in juvenile court, according to KBMT-TV:
Jefferson County's new Teen Drug Court [is] sponsored by the judges who operate the county's family court program.

It pairs kids with mentors and checks on their progress on a weekly basis.

Judge Randy Shelton says; 'If we send them off to placement or the Texas Youth Commission it would cost 50 to 60 thousand dollars a year."

Juvenile probation authorities tell us between 300 and 500 each year go through the criminal justice system in Jefferson County with drug related problems.

If not for alternative programs like this these kids could end up behind locked doors.
Though juvenile courts already tend to use many of the strong probation tools utilized in drug courts, I'm not sure I'd seen the drug-court model specifically applied to teens elsewhere. Let me know in the comments if you're aware of other jurisdictions taking this approach.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Grayson is starting a similar program as well!

Gritsforbreakfast said...

A reader from Hub City checks in by email to let me know there was a "Juvenile drug court established in Lubbock in January, 2005. Probably another dozen around the state presently."

Anonymous said...

McLennan County has a Drug Court for Juveniles. It has been sucessful.

RAS said...

This comment has nothing to do with the topic but no one checks on TYC - In The Trenches. A girl tries to strangle her teacher in Brownwood, A staff suffers spinal injuries in Gainsville, riots in Crockett with over $30,000 in damages and 8 staff injured, 12 hour shifts are common because staff are calling in sick because they are afraid to be on a Dorm or they are sick of trying to get a system to work that was designed for cub scouts. Why isn't any of this getting in the papers? Perhaps because the supporters of change don't want to highlite the effects of their unimpeded ignorance.

Rage Judicata said...

Their teen court and juvenile mediation program have been around for a little while, actually. Harris County would do well to start both programs here.

Anonymous said...

I don't want to sound negative, because this seems like a good intervention. However, there are going to always be youths that will ultimately need incarceration. TYC is living on borrowed time, but it will come back as something else, and not necessarily better.

RAS said...

For the people who like stats; assaults on staff; 3rd qtr 09 - 93,2nd qtr 09 - 61, 1st qtr 09 - 56, 4th qtr 08 - 21, 3rd qtr 08 - 33,2nd qtr 08 - 22. Two months of the 3rd qtr was after the rif, so the per capita jump in assaults was well over 50%. As for making the new education plan work; two teachers in Brownwood quit yesterday. I'm sure they'll have dozens of applicants wanting their cushy jobs.

Anonymous said...

If only they didn't have to be diverted and it was totally legal in the first place.

Anonymous said...

TYC is a failure, there have been no reform... it is a joke that we are discussing education, when the facilities are ticking time bombs. I think all juveniles should be diverted from TYC to private placements or the innovative programs like the one in Beaumont. The most heinous juvenile offenders should be certified per the current statutes and laws. TYC should be dismantled, and buried.

RAS said...

There has definitely been changes; now when a student assaults another student he can be given a Level II hearing and have his priveleges revoked for a whole month. They have to be given due process to take away their TV. GAP 95.3

Anonymous said...

Grits,
sorry, this is not directly related to the topic, but I thought it was funny.
http://austin.craigslist.org/zip/1360119007.html

amyn said...

If you or anyone you know is addicted to drugs
call Narconon today.

Anonymous said...

I found a great place in Tucson AZ who specialize in teen drug rehab.

Drug Rehabs said...

Now day numerous teens are suffering from the problem of alcohol. For helping these teen alcohol recovery centers give the best treatment to the drug addicts. Drug rehabs centers provide cost effective drug treatment programs and therapies to addicted person because people are seeking for the affordable treatment center for addiction recovery. These centers attempt to treat not only physical drug dependency, but also include treatment, or rehab, for the psychological drug dependency in addicted peoples. Drug recovery centers for drug addict offer some of the drug recovery treatment centers that are most effective rehabilitation programs available today. Therapists of the treatment centers take the help of twelve-step treatment, cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational enhancement therapy, Christian counseling and other therapies. In addition, doctors give medication treatment to the patients.
http://www.edrugrehabs.com/

Anonymous said...

Cognitive behavioural Coach handbags
is a model. If you find yourself commonly thinking self critical thoughts it may well be that you would benefit from cognitive behavioural Coach Bonnie
. Cognitive behavioural Coach Wristlet
is helpful in helping you to identify if there are particular patterns of thinking. A Coach Ergo
trained in cognitive behavioural techniques will help you to identify these thought patterns and find ways of substituting more realistic and constructive ways of thinking.

drug rehab said...

Are you looking for a residential drug rehab for drug or alcohol addiction? Have you tried outpatient treatment and failed and now realized that in order to become drug-free you must enter a residential or inpatient facility? If this is so, you have come to the right place. We specialize in finding the most effective inpatient drug rehabs in the country. Whether you want, long-term, traditional 12-steps, detox, residential, holistic, or non 12 step rehabilitation, we can help you find the program. We also know what programs work with insurance, and which programs are state or government funded. If you need a private drug rehab we can also help you find one as well.

When looking for an alcohol or drug treatment program we highly recommend it be residential. One of the main reasons a person relapses when entering into a treatment center, is that it is outpatient. This means that the person lives at home and during the day goes to meetings or sees a counselor. Then the addicted individual comes home, works, and participates in his daily routine. The reason this doesn’t work is he still has his drug-friends close by, and he still does not have the ability to say “no.”

Removing a person from his or her environment is one of the first steps to recovery. It is very therapeutic for a person to leave his or her home and go away so that they can focus on themselves. When a person is struggling with addiction, they must first figure out why they are using drugs or alcohol as a solution to some problem or unwanted emotion. An effective drug rehab uses cognitive counseling, and life skills therapy to address these underlying issues and then teach a person how to live life free of alcohol and drug abuse.

If you need help finding a residential drug rehabthan please, don’t wait, pick up the phone and call today.