Reform

 

Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative® (JDAI)

"The (Annie E.) Casey Foundation's Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI for short) began more than 25 years ago as a pilot project to reduce reliance on local detention. By design, reform in JDAI sites has expanded beyond juvenile detention, the front end of the system. Sites are applying core JDAI themes - such as effective collaboration and objective decision-making - to broader reform goals. The deep-end demonstration sites provide examples of what can be achieved with strategic, intentional, data-driven reform. They have piloted the work with courage and ingenuity and have shown that change is possible." - Annie E. Casey Foundation

HCJPD is proud to be a JDAI Deep-End Site, working to expand this significant and impactful initiative holistically throughout all spheres of the Juvenile Justice System, and we are excited to have Tarsha Jackson, Houston City Council Member District B, as co-chair of our JDAI Deep-End Site Steering Committee. 

JDAI Steering Committee Members
JDAI Deep-End Initiative Summary Report
JDAI Deep-End Initiative Full Report 


    

 

Texas Policy Lab | Rice University

"TPL and HCJPD have already worked together in the design of an innovative program to rehabilitate serious offenders and collaborated in TPL's design of a data analytics tool for the Harris County Task Force to Transform Youth Justice. As operations begin to normalize in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, TPL and HCJPD have embarked on multiple collaborative research agendas.

HCJPD is committed to an evidence-based approach to meet the needs of justice-involved youth in Harris County. The results from our partnership will continue to enable HCJPD as they develop a portfolio of programs that is fully supported by evidence. Youth justice stakeholders in Harris County will be able to make decisions based on a body of rigorous evidence grounded in local data, understand the ways in which the youth justice system affects lives, and to develop effective strategies to address disparities in the system." - Texas Policy Lab

 


 

Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI)  

Transforming Cultures of Care - Harris County Juvenile Probation Department

"Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI for short) is an attachment-based, trauma-informed intervention that is designed to meet the complex needs of vulnerable children. TBRI uses Empowering Principles to address physical needs, Connecting Principles for attachment needs, and Correcting Principles to disarm fear-based behaviors. While the intervention is based on years of attachment, sensory processing, and neuroscience research, the heartbeat of TBRI is connection.
 
By embracing Trust-Based Relational Intervention, Harris County Juvenile Probation Department is successfully changing the culture of care at their facilities from one focused upon punishment to one of holistic hope and healing for the youth in their care. As a result of their TBRI implementation efforts emphasizing safe and healthy connection with youth, behavioral challenges have decreased as employee satisfaction has improved."
 
— Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development