Rosales and Quiroga make an inspiring and effective team at Evins
By John McGreevy, TJJD Communications
Juan Quiroga, left, and Javier Rosales
It almost sounds like a Hollywood “buddy movie." Two longtime friends and coworkers with more than 40 years of service to their community. One day, one of them retires. Three months later, he comes back and his partner kept his old seat in the van ready for him the whole time. Okay, comparing it to Hollywood might be a bit of a reach, but the value of good communication and effective teamwork are what TJJD encourages for the youth in our facilities every day. At the Evins Regional Juvenile Center in Edinburg, there might be no better example of this than their very own Javier Rosales and Juan Quiroga.
Rosales and Quiroga are juvenile corrections officers in the regulation safety unit (RSU) at Evins and they’ve got more than 45 years of service between them.
It's a partnership that has served them and the people at Evins a great deal.
"With the two of them, the job is never finished as they always want to meet higher and higher standards," said Yariel Matute, regional safety manager at Evins. "They pride themselves on their experience, leadership, and the teamwork they display."
Rosales has over 20 years of service at Evins and Quiroga is in his 26th year at the facility. He retired but returned to his position after three months. His reasons for doing so aren’t complicated. “The biggest reason I came back is working with Javier with these kids,” he said. “It means a lot to be able to help some of these kids get a chance to make their lives better.”
They both talk about the satisfaction they get from seeing when a youth is able to learn from their time at Evins. “We’ve been here so long and we’ve seen many youths who’ve been here, that it’s good to see the ones who go on to contribute something to society," Rosales said. “We’ve met so many wonderful people who have worked here. Very good, hard-working people. It’s something I love about this job.”
Juan Quiroga, left, and Javier Rosales
Their day on the facility starts at 5 am. “When we come in, the first thing we do is get updates from the late-night staff and find out if there might be something going on with one of the youths that we should know about,” Rosales said. “At 6:30, we escort the staff and the youth from the dorms to the cafeteria. We make sure there are no dysregulated youth. If there are, we talk to them and try to figure out what we can do about their problem. We’ll talk to the case manager and the team leader. If the youth are particularly upset, we take them to the regulation zone where a member of the staff will do various exercises and breathing techniques with the youth. Hopefully, this helps get them calm and gives them the reset they need so they can go back to the dorm.”
Their peers have noticed their consistency and the teamwork they display. “They show up every single day to work and assist the facility as much as possible,” Matute said. “The members of the staff look up to them and want to be like them.”
While having the respect of your colleagues is rewarding, the work they get to be a part of is what keeps them coming back every day. “We really do try to help the youth,” Rosales said. “We try to help them rehabilitate themselves. We work really hard to ensure the safety of these youth and the staff. Our leadership here help and support us so much and we’re only getting better.”
Quiroga shares the sentiment. “This is my second home,” he said. “Everything I have is because of this job.”
Ask them why they make such a good team and they keep the answers simple. “We communicate,” Rosales said. “We’ve developed a really good chemistry together and we know the other will respond in a situation. I know what he’s going to say.”
“We finish each other’s sentences a lot,” Quiroga said.
This isn’t to suggest that they have an easy time of it at Evins. There’s no shortage of challenges and the tasks they may be called to handle can change every day. Both of them can be relied upon to assist and support in various capacities, Matute said, and this can go a long way toward ensuring the safety of the campus. This might mean responding to security referrals or aiding with movements and managing OIG (Office of the Inspector General) traffic. It’s not often they have a day that could be called “ordinary.”
As with any job, being effective means making sure they take time for themselves so they’ll be sufficiently recharged and at their best. For Quiroga this means hosting barbecues for his family and friends.
For Rosales, it means peace and quiet at home with his family. “I’m a family man,” he said. “A lot of people ask me why I spend so much time at home. Well, I paid for the house, I might as well enjoy it. I enjoy the peace and quiet.” He said it took him many years to develop a balance between his job and his home life.
That’s not to say they don’t like to get out and look around. “We both take little trips, to San Antonio, for example,” Rosales said. In 2019, they went to Disneyworld together with their families. “One day we just said to each other ‘Let’s go to Disneyworld’ and we did. I took my parents and my family and Javier took his family.”
For Rosales, taking trips is something he intends to do more of in the future. “I plan to travel,” he said. “I want to get to know the world.” He says the top of his travel wish list is the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas.
Rosales and Quiroga are mindful of the responsibilities of their jobs and Quiroga points out that safety is always the number one priority at Evins, but they sometimes wish the public knew a little more about the work going on at Evins. Being honest and direct with the youth is a big part of that. It’s one of the lessons both of them learned early on.
“Don’t lie to the youth,” Rosales said.” If a youth tells me they need to talk to an administrator, I make sure it happens. The youth see that. It’s all about communication. These kids have had people lie to them their whole lives. We always try to be very respectful and professional in front of the youth. We’re straightforward with them.”
“I had very little when I was growing up in Mexico. This job changed my entire life,” Quiroga said.
Attorney Leah O’Leary joins TJJD to help smooth and improve Level II hearings process
By John McGreevy, TJJD Communications
TJJD staff at secure facilities and halfway houses strive to help youth make better decisions and correct poor behavior. But, as at any place with troubled teens, some incidents require further discipline.
The staff and youth need to know that youth aggression and misbehavior will not be overlooked, and that youth will be held accountable.
Recently, Leah O’Leary joined TJJD as a staff attorney and the due process supervisor, charged with overseeing and improving Level II hearings. These are the forums in which staff review and adjudicate serious disciplinary violations that happen in TJJD facilities.
“My role was created to fill a need for the agency,” O’Leary said. “My directive was to evaluate the processes and implementation of the processes and figure out what problems exist. We have a huge backlog of major allegations that have not had hearings. We have hearings that are not happening in a timely manner.”
Assault, upon one another or members of the staff, is the most common major violation. Others include being disruptive, sexual misconduct, and possession of a weapon.
“An allegation is not enough,” O’Leary said. “We want to make sure the incident actually happened, and that the youth is given due process before we impose any kind of consequence.”
Level II hearings are confidential. In attendance will be the youth, the hearing manager (who acts as the judge), the staff representative (who acts as the prosecutor), the advocate for the youth (they can push back on any evidence, question witnesses, explain what's happening to the youth to make sure they understand), and any witnesses who need to testify.
“During a hearing, if an allegation is proven true, a disposition will be issued, which is the consequence,” O’Leary said. “It might be a loss of privileges or a referral of that youth to a program in the violence continuum. The consequence goes into effect immediately. The youth can appeal, but if the appeal says that the finding was correct, that major violation becomes part of the youth’s disciplinary record.”
Anyone who completes Level II training can be an advocate. The youth can request a particular advocate, such as a juvenile corrections officer. “Ideally it’s a case manager, but it’s important that it be someone the youth trusts,” O’Leary said. Level II training certification is a 90-minute online course that takes place on the TJJD training portal.
O’Leary, a native Texan from Laredo, attended the University of Texas for undergrad and went to law school at St. Mary’s in San Antonio. She worked at the Texas Attorney General’s office, as deputy chief of the law enforcement defense division for 11 years. “In that division we only represent law enforcement agencies and their employees when they are sued,” she said. She represented TJJD for two years during the ongoing Department of Justice investigation of possible youth rights violations.
“I spent a lot of time at all the facilities,” she said. “I got to know the general counsel really well, I got to know the executive director really well and also some of the executive team. I really liked the culture and the direction the agency is going, and I really liked the agency’s purpose.”
O’Leary has spent several months evaluating the Level II system.
“I’m always looking for ways to make things more efficient. Hiring more hearing specialists is one of the immediate things that we can change.”
The biggest concern she has faced has been trying to ensure that the hearings take place in a timely fashion. This can be difficult when some facilities have been short-handed on staffing and a large number of alleged incidents have occurred.
If too much time elapses between an incident and the hearing, “accountability can be lost because the youth aren’t always going to be able to take accountability for something they did a month ago,” O’Leary said. “In order to teach accountability those hearings really have to happen on time.”
When hearing specialists are overwhelmed with filed allegations, the Level II process can be challenging and procedures may suffer.
“There’s also a need for additional training of the existing hearing specialists,” O’Leary said. “I’ve gone out to the facilities and observed hearings and watched the process. It’s different at each facility, which is fine, but it requires some brainstorming on how to make the process more efficient for these facilities. The training is something I need to offer more of as more specialists are hired, because if the specialists don’t really have a fundamental understanding of what the process looks like, the result can be hearings being overturned on appeal. While I’m not going to overturn something because of a minor paperwork mistake, if a paperwork mistake or a process mistake is so egregious that due process was not provided to the youth, then it has to be overturned.”
“A lot of youth don’t have the basic skill of understanding cause and effect; that behavior equals consequence. That’s what accountability means to me in this process. A youth can know that they engaged in a certain type of behavior they shouldn’t have, but they’re never going to internalize and learn from it and take accountability if they don’t feel like they got a fair shake. If they don’t feel like the process was fair to them, they will never learn from their behavior; they will never take accountability.”
O’Leary further explained the other fundamental function of Level II hearings is to enhance safety and security. The staff need to trust that the Level II process will hold youth accountable for aggression and misbehavior.
While improving the implementation will always be ongoing, O’Leary believes in the in the Level II program. “The process really does a good job of protecting youth rights and making sure that they get a fair shake,” she said. “It’s a tool that helps youth, even if youth aren’t always happy about it. Skill-building and accountability are important parts of their rehabilitation.”
New education complex opens at Lubbock County Juvenile Justice Center
By TJJD Communications
The Lubbock County Juvenile Justice Center unveiled its new Education Complex on Tuesday, showcasing the building’s 10 classrooms, indoor recreation center and office suite for the Lubbock ISD staff.
Construction on the $3.4 million education addition, which the county funded, began in 2022 and will be completed shortly. It will allow the Juvenile Justice Center to move the youth out of the temporary portable classrooms that they had been using.
“Education of the youth we serve remains a key component to the rehabilitation process,” said Lubbock County Chief Juvenile Probation Officer William Carter. “The Lubbock County Juvenile Justice Center has been very fortunate to have in place a top-notch group of educators who care about the future of the youth we serve. Now, with this significant investment in providing the best environment for learning, LCJJC can say we have one of, if not the best, education complexes in a detention center in Texas.”
“We are grateful to the leadership in Lubbock County for making this possible. Our County Commissioners Court, our Judicial branch, and state leadership have all supported this effort and to them I say, ‘thank you,’” Chief Carter said.
“Today marks the beginning of the best chapter yet for Lubbock County and neighboring county’s at-risk youth.”
Several local and state leaders attended the unveiling and tour of the facility on Tuesday, including State Senators Charles Perry and Kevin Sparks, Lubbock County Judge Curtis Parrish and TJJD Executive Deputy Director for Probation, Reentry and Community Services Lou Serrano.
Parrish said that offering educational opportunities to young offenders can help change their life trajectory.
Others attending echoed that sentiment. State Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) told KCBD-TV in Lubbock that said the education provided at the new facility will help young people see other paths forward that could help them stay out of trouble.
“It’s important that we give them access to the opportunities,” Perry said.
“That this American economy, this American dream, if you will, still has to offer for those who choose to participate.”
Senator Sparks (R-Midland), also speaking to KCBD-TV, said he plans to promote a similar facility in his district, which spans several counties in West Texas.
(Pictured: Sen. Kevin Sparks, Chief William Carter, Judge John Grace, TJJD Deputy Exec. Director Lou Serrano, Sen. Charles Perry, General Counsel Rob Callen.)
Youth learn horticulture and woodworking skills at the Evins campus
By John McGreevy, TJJD Communications
At secure facilities and halfway houses throughout TJJD, members of the education staff consistently strive to identify opportunities for the youth to acquire valuable trades, enhancing their prospects for better futures.
While the youths receive a fundamental high school education, TJJD schools also provide vocational classes and workshops of various types.
Depending on the facility, classes in horticulture, welding, construction, business information management, and other subjects aim to prepare the youths for entry into the job market. Some of these vocational classes allow the youths to obtain certificates from the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER), the Texas Nursery and Landscaping Association and a certification for food-handling from ServSafe.
At the Evins Regional Juvenile Center in Edinburg, horticulture science and construction technology courses have gained popularity among the youths.
Arturo Guerrero oversees the construction technology classes at Evins. With more than 43 years of teaching experience and now in his sixth year with TJJD, he guides the youths in operating the various workstations and machinery in his workshop.
He instructs them in the operation of machines such as a table saw, drill press, band saw, surface planer, and belt and disc sander.
“I teach them about the industry, about mass production,” he said. “When you go out in the world and you’re working for a company, nobody is making one individual project.”
Guerrero emphasizes safety and patience above all. "Industrial technology has many areas we can cover," he said. "We don't teach them how to be experts in construction, but we expose them to different types of machinery."
“Later this school year, we’ll be making cutting boards,” Guerrero continued. “They’ll strip, they’ll glue, we’ll use the planer, and everybody will work in different stations. Before they do that, they’ll learn about the machines. They’ll learn about safety and how to respect the power equipment.”
He's been pleased with positive response from the youths to the chance to learn these new skills.
"They look forward to the classes," Guerrero said. "They enjoy having a goal and a sense of accomplishment. The look on their faces when they grasp something, when they realize they've learned something, is rewarding. It's great to see how excited they get. They're genuinely joyful, believe it or not. That's gratifying for me as an instructor."
Tim Hinds serves as the horticultural science teacher at Evins. With 32 years of teaching experience, including teaching at the South Texas Independent School District (ST-ISD) and 11 years at TJJD, he credits his current position to “passing the required Texas Education Agency examination and helping my grandfather on his farm every summer since I was a kid.”
“Learning by doing is much better for these kids,” he said. “It sinks in much better than just having them answer a question on a piece of paper.”
In his classes, the youths will learn to properly and safely operate mowers, weed-eaters, and a garden tiller and they’ll earn an endorsement from the Texas Nursery and Landscaping Association.
“We’ll grow flowers and transplant them,” Hinds said. “We might transplant some trees.”
Coming soon, a vegetable garden.
“The kids will be able to eat whatever we grow,” Hinds said. “They’re super excited about that. It tastes different when you pick it fresh.”
He says he’s often asked why he went from teaching over-achieving students at ST-ISD to come to TJJD.
“My reply has always been that I came from a very dysfunctional family and I was not an angel during my teen years,” he said.
Both the horticulture and construction classes are held every school day, with six classes conducted each day. For safety and security reasons, classes are kept small, accommodating approximately four to six youths.
The construction classes will enable some students to earn an NCCER Core Curriculum certificate. Guerrero said this certification can, in some cases, result in an additional income of up to $50 per week with some jobs . Across TJJD, youths earned more than 90 such certificates this year.
“We’re doing our best to give these kids some alternatives to what they were doing before,” said Steve van Nest, the principal at Evins. “Their behavior and their choices that got them here are what we’re trying to correct and give them a different way to go. The more we can educate them in the classroom and get them either a diploma or a GED, or with this program and get them working with their hands .”
As teachers everywhere will tell you, it’s not always easy. Getting young people to work patiently and as a team rarely happens overnight,” said Hinds. “But we stay with it and we get them to work together, to help each other out.”
For an opportunity to put their burgeoning skills to the test, Hinds and the youths didn’t need to go very far.
“None of the trees on campus have been pruned since before COVID,” Hinds said, “so we’ve been pruning all week long. It didn’t take long for the kids to start working together as a unit. They were working safely and joking with each other and helping each other out . “
Guerrero agrees about the challenges of giving lessons in patience and teamwork, but says the approach to working this out is built right into the tasks at hand.
“Woodworking teaches the kids patience and learning from a mistake,” he said. “It’s a form of anger management.”
“We’re trying to help these kids,” van Nest said. “When these kids reenter their community, we want them to have a fresh outlook and some skills that they can use to go down a different path. We’re trying to change the way they think and help them change their lives for the better. You see these kids working hard and learning something and realizing what they could become. “
ESP program in Tom Green County is a long-standing success
By John McGreevy, TJJD Communications
It started as a simple enough idea: to create a program for young people going through difficult times in their lives to learn ways to cope and make better decisions before heading down a more harmful or unproductive path.
In Tom Green County, the Education Supervision and Prevention program (ESP), a highly successful initiative, has been in operation since its inception in 1995.
It has left an indelible mark on the area, with young people in the region recalling how it helped them years and even decades later.
Mariah Harris, now in her 30’s, was a participant of the program almost 20 years ago and still has an appreciation for what a positive influence it had in her life. “I was going through a lot,” she said. “I was in seventh grade, I had to be the adult in my house and look after my siblings and take on things a kid shouldn’t have to do, and I was very angry.”
Back then, Probation Officer Amber Sellers learned about Harris’ situation and reached out to her.
“At first, I didn’t want to be a part of it,” Harris said. “But I went and that was a good thing. Ms. Amber was there when we needed somebody. She was there to guide me in the right direction.”
Early Success through partnering with schools
ESP was the brainchild of the late Roy K. Robb, a prominent figure in the juvenile and adult supervision and corrections fields. The program targets at-risk middle school youth (grades seventh and eighth). However, as is often the case with long-standing programs like ESP, numerous individuals deserve credit for the work accomplished over the years.
“It was Mr. Robb’s idea,” said Mark Williams, TJJD regional program administrator for the West and Panhandle regions. “We wanted more interaction with the schools and to show support for them. It was his idea to put juvenile probation officers at the middle schools because he thought that’s where they would have the most impact. And it worked, and not so much as the officers being disciplinarians but as someone to support the kids and get to know them.”
The program has operated continuously since 1995 and earned statewide recognition in 1998 when it received an award from the Texas Corrections Association for its innovative approach, said Monica Schniers, Tom Green County Chief Juvenile Probation Officer.
Mark Williams played a vital role implementing and structuring the program while he was employed by the county probation department, though Williams does his best to downplay that.
“My job was to take all of Mr. Robb’s great ideas and make them work. The program has always been a good cooperative effort, because a key part of that was always allowing the schools to have some say in the program and not us just going in and telling them how it was going to be.”
“The schools appreciated that,” Williams said, “and consequently our officers had more knowledge about the kids that were coming into our system. That was something we hadn’t predicted.”
Today, the youth groups meet three days a week for about one hour. Group meetings are usually held on school campuses, but they occasionally go to local parks for team-building activities.
They focus on better decision-making, problem-solving, self-esteem, and improving their attitudes toward their peers, teachers, and families.
The ESP officers communicate with teachers, principals, and counselors regularly. Attendance is checked randomly but specifically on scheduled group days, because this helps ESP officers know how many students to expect.
Communication with the students' guardians is essential. The program is voluntary and all parents or guardians are required to sign an ESP packet to authorize their child's participation. ESP officers also communicate with the guardians regarding a child's failure to attend a meeting (without prior notification) and/or any other identified issues.
The foundation of these group discussions and activities comes from the Rainbow Days Training - Curriculum-Based Support Groups (CBSG) Program. Tenured ESP officers have accumulated additional activities and discussions from various sources throughout the years, including guest speakers from around the community and a tour of Angelo State University.
Keeping ESP effective by accepting youth and building rapport
Referrals for the program are received via the Juvenile Justice Center (JJC) and school administration. Students who are first-time offenders, have had a Supervisory Caution, or have been placed on deferred prosecution are generally good candidates for the program and are referred by a juvenile probation officer. School staff refer students who display behavioral issues in the classroom. Such issues could include a youth being notably introverted, needing a peer support group, having been placed in foster care, or experiencing familial issues such as divorce, death, or incarceration of a family member.
“I’ve been doing this program for 23 years,” said Sellers, the juvenile probation officer who today runs the ESP program at Lone Star Middle School in San Angelo. “We work with at-risk kids the majority of the day. We’re trying to keep kids out of the juvenile system.
ESP is based on a reward system. Positive incentives (candy, tokens, etc.) are given during meetings to encourage participation. The last meeting of each week is considered a reward day for students who have not received detention or In-School Suspension and attended all scheduled ESP meetings during the week. A typical reward day involves a pizza party or other snack food and a fun activity.
“The kids have been in class all day,” Sellers said. “We want to make things fun for them.”
The ESP officers spend most of their day at their assigned campus. They communicate with the teachers and staff daily and can provide courtesy checks for the probation officers seeking updates on how a student is doing at school. They can also request and pick up school records and remind students of upcoming appointments with their probation officer.
Confidentiality is a key part of ESP. All participants are asked to keep anything said in the group to themselves, and generally, this is respected. They trust that the officers will do the same. If a student communicates a desire to harm themselves or others, the ESP officers are required to follow departmental reporting protocols.
Building rapport with the kids is important. “That takes time,” said Jonnie Benge, a juvenile probation officer who has been running the ESP program at Glenn Middle School for 24 years.
“When they first start in the program, they don’t know you too well. You let them know that you’re someone there that they can depend on. You let them know that you’re here to help them, whether it be with school or with something at home. And you’ve got to be positive with them, work through their mistakes with them and praise them when they do good things. That way if they do get in trouble, we can talk to them about it and they’re less likely to get upset because they know that we legitimately care about them.”
“We’re able to be flexible with the group,” Sellers said. “We always talk to them and to each other about finding ways to better help and communicate with the kids. Being available is important. They can contact us, their parents can contact us, and not just at the school during school hours.
“They build relationships with us and with the other group members, and they all find support in that. That keeps them coming back.”
A necessary ingredient: Positivity
Benge and Sellers both stress the benefit of confidentiality. “It’s a place where they know they can share what’s going on in their lives and not feel judged,” Benge said.
Kali Gordy participated in the program in 2018 and remains grateful for the experience. “I didn’t want to do it at first,” she said. “I didn’t think there was anything wrong with my behavior, I didn’t think I had any issues and didn’t need to be in that class.”
The program changed her mind after getting to know Sellers. “I’d never had anyone I felt I could talk to until then. She taught me how to look at things more positively. We still talk and still see her.”
“These kids need someone positive in their lives,” Benge said. “A lot of them only hear negativity. Kids respond better to us telling them they need to change their behavior if we give them positive feedback on the good things.”
Both officers agree that the best part of the job is working with the kids.
“They’re why we’ve both been doing this for so long,” Sellers said. “I don’t think we could be here if we didn’t have the passion for doing this and love working with the kids the way we do.”
“We love this program and love these kids,” Sellers continued. “Can it be stressful? Absolutely, because we worry about these kids – we want them to be safe, we want them to be happy. But I always say to people ‘Where else can you go where these kids are so happy to see you.”
“A lot of these kids feel like we’re the only adults they can depend on,” Benge said. “Some of their home lives are rough.”
As is often seen in the juvenile justice community, the people tasked with working with young people find their own lives changed in the process. “I’ve learned so much more compassion and patience for people,” Sellers said. “It’s helped me as a mom. It’s helped open my eyes to what teenagers can go through. It’s helped me communicate better with my own kids.”
The bonds and friendships created often continue even after the kids have left the program.
“We’ve stayed in contact with several of the kids,” Sellers said. “We’ve gone to weddings and baby showers. These kids are a big part of our lives. They’re a blessing to us. We get to see the changes in them. We get to see them flourish.”
Mariah Harris attributes the program’s success with her to the powerful connection that Amber Sellers was able to forge with her.
“There’s something about her,” Harris. “She made it so much easier to want to go to school and to learn. I enjoyed her class a lot. She helped think differently about things and look at thing in a different way. She has patience and she’s just amazing. She made me believe and understand that there were people out there who cared.”
Harris says she would urge any parent who might be uncertain about placing their child in the program to give it a try.
“My daughter is in the program right now and she just loves it,” Harris said. “I would tell any parent to allow their child to go to this program. It’s changed some kids’ lives, the same way it changed mine. Friends were made in this program.”
Going forward, and thanks to the success of the program over the years, making ESP available to more youth is in the works.
“Our goal is to expand the program to two additional junior high schools and two area DAEPs, one of which covers 12 rural school districts,” Schniers said. “The long-term objective is to continue extending the provision of school-based prevention services, life skills training, and support group programming to as many junior high and middle school campuses as possible, as well as the rural areas served by the Coke County Juvenile Probation Department.”