There are a couple of competing events up at the capitol tomorrow both of which deserve Grits readers attention, and thankfully both of which will be broadcast online. First, via an email from the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition:
On Thursday, January 28, 2010, at 9:00 am in Room E2.010, the Corrections Committee will also hold its first interim hearing to listen to both public and invited testimony on interim Charge 5, to review the range of services provided to females in the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems and hear recommended changes to ensure responsiveness to gender-specific issues. The charge also calls for the review of institutional and community supervision programs and utilization of correctional facilities that house non-adjudicated populations.
Committee members will also hear public and invited testimony on Interim Charge 6, which requires the monitoring of agencies and programs under the committee's jurisdiction.
Click here to view posting!
Note: This event will be broadcast live. If you cannot attend, click here the day of the hearings.
Meanwhile, at the same time the nonprofit group Texans Care for Children will be holding a juvenile justice issues summit. Here are the details from their press release:
WHAT: Texas Summit on Mental Health and Juvenile Justice
WHEN: 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 1:30-3 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 28
WHERE: The Capitol Auditorium, E.1004 (in the Capitol Extension of the State Capitol Building, Austin)
Live broadcast online: http://www.senate.state.tx.us/bin/live.php
WHY: Recent events have put the mental health-juvenile justice connection in the spotlight—from the murder of a Tyler teacher by a former TYC inmate discharged for mental illness, to the spike in the use of new antipsychotic drugs for troubled teens, to the growing number of parents forced to forfeit their children to the corrections system in order to obtain mental health treatment for their kids.
To illuminate these issues and discuss policy solutions for Texas, the summit features:
· Texas parents who turned their children in to the juvenile justice system, Texas’ mental health service provider of last resort
· Nationally renowned featured guests, Kathy Skowyra, David Arredondo, M.D., and Joyce Burrell
· State policy experts in mental health and juvenile justice
WHO: The panelists above, state leaders and their staff, and host Texans Care for Children, a statewide child policy advocacy organization
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Christine Sinatra, Communications Director, Texans Care for Children: csinatra@texanscareforchildren.org
I've been a bit under the weather this week but hope to head up to the capitol for at least part of both events.
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