The Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce held its regular monthly luncheon today at the Brownwood County Club.
Today’s speaker was Cherie Townsend, Executive Director of the Texas Youth Commission.
Townsend started off stating that the TYC “It’s All About Kids” and the the TYC is not just about incarcerating juveniles, but about teaching them things that will help change their behavior.
“They have to be held accountable for the things they’ve done, but ultimately if we don’t give them some tools and some skills that will allow them to make different choices and to actually make choices in the future, we haven’t done our job,” Townsend explained.
Some statistics shared by Townsend regarding those kids kept in TYC facilities around the state are:
- 93% male
- 7% female
- 44% Hispanic
- 35% African American
- 20% Anglo
- 40% Admit to being gang members
- 33% Admit to a history of being abused
- 32% Have serious mental health problems
Townsend said that a major change taking place in the last year at TYC is to focus on orientation and assessment to find out what is right for the kids and what way can best help them.
In the past, the minimum length of stay was based primarily on offense. Now TYC looks at not only the current offense, but also an assessment to determine if the person will commit another crime or not. The offense and assessments are categorized by high, medium, and low and together determine the minimum length of say.
“Part of what we are trying to do is offer kids opportunities through an overall rehabilitation program that will allow them to make changes,” Townsend said. “This is part of a transition we are going through now.”
Programs to help meet these new goals include many specialized treatment programs including sex behavior treatment and chemical dependency treatment.
Townsend said that TYC’s goal is to “Begin with the end in mind.”
Their hope with these new programs is to make these kids productive members of society and give them a chance to turn around their lives