By David N. Krough, TJJD Communications

For youth the in the Fort Bend County Juvenile Probation system, the ticket to self-sufficiency, whether it be higher education, or the working world, is well within reach thanks to the transition program and its dedicated staff.

On a recent visit to the offices in Sugar Land, the FBCJP staff gave a tour of their classrooms and highlighted their range of services in the Transitions Program and Special Programs.

These two programs have achieved success thanks to a big network of collaborations, continuous teamwork within the JP Department and a deep reach into the community to tap multiple resources, Fort Bend JP staff said.

The detention center is an 80-bed facility with three dormitories holding eight youth each, and also separate rooms for individuals. There they participate in education, medical, mental health, recreational and spiritual programs. It is the heart of the operation.

Transition Program Coordinator Christy Roy and the transition team spend their time informing youth about higher education opportunities, assisting with career decisions and connecting them with local assistance programs.

In five years with the agency, Roy has doubled the number of youths enrolled each year in the Transition’s work/study program. In 2023 she offered one-on-one guidance to 70 young people transferring back into the community from detention. 

“(Christy) is extremely positive, uplifting and always encourages our local youth to set goals and dreams to obtain a brighter future ahead,” said Fort Bend County Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Kyle Dobbs. “Many times, Christy steps in and offers tremendous guidance and direction that these teens are not receiving at home. She is always willing to be flexible with the needs of each youth she encounters and to meet them and their families where they are for the youth to achieve success.”

Reading

For many youths in transition, either coming from a court order or school expulsion, it all starts with the basics of getting back on track in school.

There are two Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program (JJAEP) schools in the county that use a reading coaching program called Mindplay, which tests different areas such as vocabulary, reading, comprehension, grammar and phonics. Once a kid is assessed, it makes a unique, individualized plan for success.

“A lot of these kids, are really, really, behind in school, especially their reading. Their reading (ability) is really, really low. So, you may have someone who’s in high school who’s reading (at) a third-grade reading (level.) This program really helps them to get, at least maybe not to exactly where they need to be” but two or three grade levels up, Roy said.

The Mindplay software is only available at the JJAEP schools and not in the public school system, Roy said. Sometimes judges will issue a court order for youth to do a set number of hours on the reading system which they get credit for, but others are just using the tool to better themselves, in whichever area.

The JJAEP campus in Rosenberg is about a 15-minute drive west from the Transitions Project office. There, in addition to regular classwork, students are also offered mental health and substance abuse help, recreation, shop and welding classes as a part of vocational education.

Workforce

The job readiness program helps youth with the skills like developing resume, interviewing skills and even obtaining interview clothing, with help from the FBPFY nonprofit.

“It’s more of a one-on-one mentoring, showing them how to go about the whole process,” Roy said. “That could look like me sitting there showing them how to complete an application … showing them how to navigate job search databases, like Snag-a-Job, Simply Hired, Indeed … creating professional email addresses and having those conversations about what that would look like.”

Roy also helps review what their prior work or volunteer experience is to see where they would be a good fit for a job.

Texas Workforce Solutions is also a partner that offers a work-based learning program for anyone between 16 and 24 to take a job as a trainee or apprentice.

“The way they get them in the door is Workforce Solutions pays their salary through that initial internship,” Roy said. “I usually try to navigate the kid that I’m working with in that direction because it is a program that they will actually be working for actual businesses, versus, fast food and retail.”

Workforce Solutions is a state-wide network of job assistance offices resource that not only can connect youth with employment opportunities, but often parents who may not be familiar with their organization as well, Roy says.

“Many times, I’ve helped (families) navigate some of those programs where they can provide them a job (and) it’s going to benefit the whole household,” she said.” Under that umbrella, they have different programs, if one doesn’t fit for one kid, another one will.”

A jobs program for those who are already 18 and have a high school diploma or GED, connects them with careers in the trades like construction, plumbing, HVAC and electrical. In three months, they have a certificate.

“I just had a recent graduate that did the welding program, so he has a welding certificate level one … under his belt now, under three months,” Roy said. “Sometimes that kind of program is best suited for kids that are trying to get into the workforce right away.”

Higher Ed

The college readiness aspect of the transition program sets goals for trade school, community college or four-year college.

“A lot of our kids … they’re first-generation college, first generation graduating from high school,” Roy said. “A lot of our kids have been told they can’t achieve much, so sometimes when you present the whole college thing it can be an overwhelming process because no one has supported them in that aspect.”

That’s where staff come in to help with things like navigating the admission process and how to get financial aid. For Bend County staff keep close partnerships with local community colleges, where youth can often get a campus tour.

The FBPFY nonprofit also helps fund scholarships for aspiring college grads. Students need to do a one or two-page, essay, or a small video to reflect who’s applying, in addition to their recommendation letters.

“There’s nothing complicated, so I always encourage kids to take advantage of the scholarship that’s available,” Roy said.

Special Programs

Along with the two JJAEP schools, youth and families in Fort Bend County Juvenile Probation are also able to take advantage of Special Programs, which include the Parent Project, a canine leadership program, tattoo removal and volunteer mentors.

The goals of the Special Programs­ are simple and aligned with Transitions – help youth in probation and similar disciplinary situations finish their education (whether that means a GED or high school diploma), build skills to enter the workforce, higher education or the military.

Special Programs Director for Fort Bend County Juvenile Probation Susan Bearden started with the program in March 2015 after serving for 20 years in Harris County Juvenile Probation Department. She says they started out with just three mentors before she began recruitment advertising in local newspapers and through the mail.

“By that fall we had 80 (mentors),” Bearden said. “People were like ‘I didn’t know you could (become a mentor) – they thought it was all confidential that you couldn’t get back there and mentor those kids.”

“We’re not the hammers, so everybody, the kids don’t mind seeing us coming in,” she said. “They may not want to talk to their probation officer or the judges or whatever, but they see special programs and it’s a different field.”

Mentorships

Leah Williams is the mentor caseworker for FBCJP. She oversees the mentors for youth that are in the detention center or living at home, but are on probation. A smaller community-based project is specifically for girls that are at risk or have been sex trafficked.

The mentor volunteer program is open to anybody over the age of 21, providing they pass the background checks.

“We have had some of our mentors gone on and continue to have (mentor-mentee) relationships once they’ve gotten out and become adults and have continued on with that relationship,” Williams said.

Lead Mentor Coordinator Quacho Allison is responsible for recruiting mentor volunteers to keep up with the flow of kids they serve. Allison has been with Fort Bend County almost 13 years. Prior to probation, he worked in the school system.

Whether they’re at home, either on probation or awaiting their disposition, Allison is responsible for providing youth in the system with a volunteer mentor or mentoring them.

“I go out into the community to restaurants, barber shops, churches … and hand them our information,” Allison said. (I) speak at various engagements within our Fort Bend community, our surrounding community … and explain to them the importance of mentorship, the rewards of it and just how you’re helping out within the community with youth.”

Fort Bend Partnership For Youth (FBPFY)

Funding for all of the Fort Bend County Probation programs comes from various agencies, such as the federal grants issued by the state and funding through the Houston Galveston Area Council. The department also partners with a local nonprofit, the Fort Bend Partnership For Youth (FBPFY), to help out with expenses for youth like haircuts, school fees, gas money for court, clothes and eyeglasses.

A lot of the fuel for the engines of the Special Programs comes from the Fort Bend Partnership For Youth Inc., a nonprofit. The organization was started in 1996. Private donors and fundraising events maintain the organization throughout the year through activities such as a quarterly raffle, as well as collecting court-collected fines as determined by a judge.

The fund helps in a lot of cases with essentials for youth like glasses, clothing, driving lessons and even scholarships.

The Parent Project takes on either court-ordered or volunteer parents for an eight-week class that teaches them parenting techniques and how to deal with strong-willed kids. There’s also a teen parent class, because some of the youths are teen parents.

Transitioning back into society, like it or not, involves personal appearances. So in addition to helping youth look good for job and college interviews, one program helps out with the often costly service of tattoo removal.

Access Health provides a tattoo-removal service for not just youth, but anyone in the community. The program works on a sliding pay scale for anyone who wants to undergo the infrared procedure at a county clinic.

“I get guys coming out of prison that want to get their tats removed because they want to start a new career – especially the gang ones, they want to get the gang tattoos removed,” Bearden said.

Camarah Brown oversees the canine leadership program. She has been with the agency nearly three years. The program partners with the county animal shelter. They can house up to five dogs at the detention center and the kids train them, bathe them and feed them, among (learning? Teaching?) other life skills.

“A lot of kids like to do one-on-ones because they don’t want the other kids seeing them be nice to dogs,” Brown said. “They’ll do the one-on-one and they just learn how to love a dog or how to just accept a dog. Because a lot of the kids, they don’t really care about animals because they’ve never really had animals.” But many times, the canines are able to win them over.

Once the pups are trained on basic commands, they try to get them adopted out to the community. In a few cases, returning youth have even come back to adopt a new friend.

Roy credits many of the successes of youth from the transition program to the entire team at FBCJP. 

“I think collectively here, we have a lot of great partnerships,” she said. “The technical school, partnership with Workforce Solutions – really a great collaboration between all of us zoning on the needs of these kids. We do have a lot of success stories.”

“As a whole, I couldn’t do it without everybody else,” Roy said.