The Texas Juvenile Justice Department announced pay raises of 15 percent on Friday, July 8, to make TJJD salaries more competitive.

This permanent pay raise, effective July 1, 2022, will apply to all direct-care positions. Those are:

• Youth Development Coaches (Juvenile Correctional Officers III-V)
• Team Leaders (Dorm Supervisors)
• Case Managers and Case Manager Supervisors
• Cooks, Food Service Managers
• Youth Safety Managers
• Parole Officers and Parole Supervisors.

This raise will increase the starting annual pay for Youth Development Coaches (JCO IIIs) from $36,238 to $41,700. (See chart below.)

“We are so pleased to make this change for our dedicated TJJD employees,” said Interim Executive Director Shandra Carter. “Our staff work hard and are completely deserving of better pay that is commensurate with their highly skilled jobs and more competitive in this tight Texas job market.”

“We also hope that these new pay scales will help boost recruitment and stem the high staff turnover that has created a more challenging work environment at TJJD campuses,” Carter said. “Recruiting and retaining qualified staff is critical to meeting our responsibilities to keep communities safe and rehabilitate the youth in our care and custody.”

TJJD is funding these raises, which make permanent a temporary pay hike that began in April, through cost savings from vacant positions and de-prioritizing other planned expenditures. The agency will shift funds from certain contract services that are not being used and from planned re-entry enrichment programs that will be postponed at this time.

TJJD projects it will be able to absorb the cost of raising salaries this biennium (FY 2022-2023) through appropriated general revenue.

The career ladder below illuminates how pay for Youth Development Coaches will improve under the new salary plan.