The Grayson County Department of Juvenile Services has been awarded a $152,000 grant by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) as part of TJJD’s Prevention and Early Intervention Initiative, which is providing demonstration grant funding for programs and services across Texas that prevent or intervene in at-risk juvenile behaviors leading to delinquency, truancy, dropping out of school, or referral to the juvenile justice system.

Under the direction of Director of Juvenile Services Bill Bristow, the department will implement the “Triple P Positive Parenting Program,” recruiting and training parenting mentor volunteers to deliver prevention and intervention services to 110 parents of youth ages 6-10 years old and 80 parents of 11-13 year olds in three counties during the 2012-2013 school year.

In this first round of grants, TJJD awarded a total of $1.3 million to 23 county juvenile probation departments for demonstration projects addressing the needs of at-risk children, youth, and their families, decreasing the likelihood that they become involved in the juvenile justice system.  Examples of services funded under these grants include school-based truancy intervention officers, counseling services, parent mentors, parenting classes, bullying prevention, afterschool programs, and a canine program in which at-risk youth will be paired with dogs from local animal shelters and taught how to train and care for them.

 “The TJJD Board is committed to investing in community prevention programs that will keep our youth from ever entering the juvenile justice system,” said Cherie Townsend, executive director of the newly created Texas Juvenile Justice Department.   “This grant initiative is a significant investment signaling our intent to support efforts to help youth and families across Texas gain access to community-based services, supports, and resources. I am impressed with the creative strategies for engaging communities and families that have the potential to help youth become responsible, caring, and confident citizens.”

The Texas Juvenile Justice Department was created on Dec. 1, 2011 to assume the duties and responsibilities of the former Texas Youth Commission and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission. Those agencies were abolished in an effort to create a more streamlined and comprehensive approach to juvenile justice issues in Texas, including an emphasis on prevention and early intervention. The TJJD currently provides support to 165 juvenile probation departments statewide and operates six secure correctional facilities and nine halfway houses throughout Texas.