MART, Texas -- The McLennan facility recently enjoyed a concert and special addresses by celebrities and speakers brought in by Youth Direct Ministries, a non-profit that aims to help justice-involved youth as well as adults in the criminal justice system.
Musician Bill Gammill, a gifted guitar and banjo player who’s performed around the world, and nationally known rapper Freddy David, kept the event lively, delivering more than two hours of music in separate performances that captured the youths’ attention.
The young men also listened with keen interest to featured speakers Terence Hicks, an Army Ranger and paratrooper who spoke about the trauma of being raised by a violent, mentally ill father.
Don Smarto, the founder of Youth Direct Ministries, also spoke to the more than two dozen gathered youth. Smarto, a Dallas radio host, founded YDM in 2001 and has helped present programs at some 800 correctional facilities across 18 states, including California, Florida, Illinois, Colorado, Massachusetts, Kentucky and Texas.
Each segment of the McLennan program lasted for more than an hour at this latest retreat, with a 45-minute break during which Youth Direct-trained volunteers met with youth in small groups to shared Biblical values and offer inspiration.
Smarto has dedicated nearly two decades to coordinating Youth Direct because early in his career, while working as a Chicago probation officer, he realized that simply confining young people was not changing them, he said. They needed more attention and assistance, including mentoring and, he believed, spiritual guidance.
“I mentored troubled youth who turned away from gangs and crime. Many who I helped went on to college,” Smarto said. “I believe the spiritual part of a person is as important as good nutrition, exercise and education. I believe God can change a heart.”
As a non-profit, we bring trained volunteers into state and country juvenile facilities to share Biblical values including honesty, the renunciation of gangs, violence and illegal drugs, said Smarto, who is an ordained Baptist minister. Our ministry brings in talented musicians and quality speakers in a program designed to grab the attention of the youth, he said.
“Our hope is to reach youth with a message that change is possible and they can live a good life with positive values,” he said.
Youth Direct has been to every Texas youth facility, with repeated visits to Gainesville, Mart, McFadden and others, some now closed, he added. Programs have included a man flying over a facility with a rocket-pack, professional athletes, a NASCAR driver, a motorcycle in a circular cage and a magician.
Smarto hosts the show “Parenting Today’s Youth” on WBAP radio in Dallas.
By Eduardo Garza, Superintendent of Tamayo Halfway House
The ultimate goal of the Texas Model is to create a culture that empowers youth to develop self-control and learn skills that allow them to transition successfully into adulthood. The Tamayo House Boys Running Team members are not only learning self-control but they are practicing it daily in their running regimen.
They are finding out that if you train, and train consistently, you will see improvement in your results.
The team from Tamayo House first experienced the rewards of these efforts at a 5K Run on April 6. The boys were all smiles as each of them completed that race of just over three miles.
Seeing their drive, Coach Gabriel Donez and myself knew we could push them to do more. So we asked them if they wanted to participate in a 10K run (6.2 miles) here in the Rio Grande Valley -- the 2019 Summer Longest Causeway Run, which takes place on the causeway between Port Isabel and South Padre Island.
The boys just smiled and said "Yes!". They and Coach Gabriel Donez trained diligently from April 7 until the race on June 1.
The young men went all out and even developed their own logo, “Tamayo Strong,” for their T-shirts, with the help of Tamayo House teacher Alma Becerra.
The group, which calls itself "Kiss My Asphalt,” is truly dedicated. Even after going to school for seven hours or spending hours doing community service events, the boys would change into their running outfits and hit the asphalt.
As the days came closer to the 10K event, some of the boys doubted themselves, but they kept each other motivated and Tamayo staff and teachers encouraged them.
On the day of the run, four Tamayo House boys, Coach Donez and more than 1,400 people from the Rio Grande Valley community and beyond ran the causeway 10K. All four boys and Coach Donez completed the run, with all of the boys placing in the top 20 for their age group!
Out of the huge group of 1,400 hundred runners, the boys took overall places of 71, 82, 281, and 397.
After the event, the youth got to eat lunch at the beach and soak their tired feet in the ocean.
None of this would have been possible without the support of the Tamayo House staff, Retired Sgt. Major (US Army) Enrique Garza who generously helped pay the entrance fees for the boys and staff, and Coach Donez for getting them in shape physically and mentally.
These boys truly are "Tamayo Strong".
By Fidel Garcia, Community Resource Coordinator – Evins Regional Juvenile Center
Edinburg, TEXAS -- It takes a special type of person to listen to someone’s problems -- and Ernestina Barreiro is that person.
Barreiro has been volunteering at Evins Regional Juvenile Center since 2007 as a member of the Catholic Dioceses of Brownsville. Initially, she signed up to help youth with their religious studies. During one of the classes, she noticed a young man who was having trouble speaking English. In 2008, Barreiro asked that she be allowed to work with that youth.
She wanted to ensure he learned to read, write and communicate in English and to help reinforce the range of topics he needed to study at campus high school, Lone Star High School South.
The mentorship worked so well that by the time he left the facility the youth had mastered the required academics and earned his GED.
“Mentoring is a positive program because it helps us diffuse anger and is an outlet for us, as it takes us out of our usual daily routine.”
-- Youth at Evins Regional Juvenile Center
Before the youth left, Barreiro made sure he had money for food and snacks for the trip home. She bought him a $25 gift card and coordinated with other volunteers from her parish to provide him with a backpack filled with new clothing and hygiene products.
Barreiro went on to mentor many more youths. Her current assigned mentee, J.G., is a determinant sentenced offender, meaning a judge has given him a specific amount of time to serve and he may have to complete that time at an adult facility. The judge, however, could review his case and place him on parole sometime before he turns 19 and must transfer out of TJJD.
In other words, J.G., age 18, has a strong incentive to try to succeed while at Evins. But he faces challenges. His family has been unable to visit because of immigration and financial issues.
“I look forward to my mentor’s weekly visits because she is the only one that comes to visit with me during the last two years. Mrs. Barreiro is always helping me out to do the right thing and pushing me to study,” he said.
“At first, I did not feel like working towards getting my GED, but she kept insisting that I do and she helped me a lot. She is always checking up on me to make sure I make the right choices,” J.G. said.
Barreiro reports that she has seen a big improvement in his attitude over the two years of their partnership. Recently, he marked many milestones, she said. He turned 18; he received his GED and he was baptized. Barreiro brought him a piece of cake and soda to celebrate his birthday and stood in as a godparent for his baptism.
“The mentoring program is challenging and rewarding,” Barreiro said. “I am always encouraging the students to stay out of trouble, out of security and I can really see that they try and that they improve their behavior every time we visit.
“The more we visit, the more calm the youth looks and is really looking forward to the day they get to go home.”
The big reward for Barreiro and other mentors is the youth have made it through the TJJD program and are going home with a positive outlook, better equipped to sort matters out when confronted with negative situations.
“Mentoring is a good program because it helps us diffuse anger and is an outlet for us, as it takes us out of our usual daily routine,” said J.M., another youth, whose mentor is Ray Trevino.
For many youth, family visitations are not frequent, for a variety of reasons. But through mentoring or other volunteer activities, most of the young men at Evins have some type of interaction with community volunteers at least once a month.
In addition, youth are able to visit with family members through regularly scheduled webcam visits scheduled by the Family Services Department at Evins.
Sadly, Evins has a list of about 25 youth who’ve never received a family visit.
The volunteer program at Evins works with this list and caseworkers’ referrals to pair these youth with a volunteer mentor or an activity. The goal is get as many youth as possible connected with community volunteers, through mentoring, concerts, retreats, tutoring or religious programing.
Volunteers also help bring families for a visit by providing gas cards and assistance for hotel rooms purchased with the proceeds of ongoing fundraisers.
Meanwhile, Barreiro and other mentors continue to provide weekly companionship to the youth and an extra set of hands at campus activities and events.
“The end goal is make sure that the student is able to succeed while at Evins and beyond and to make sure that they know that they are responsible for their actions and their futures,” she said
Everyone – especially young people -- needs encouragement from loved ones.
Which is why TJJD arranges family visits for its youth on weekends and designated weeknights, and hosts special periodic “Family Days” with games and food so families can get together at a festive occasion at TJJD campuses.
Still, busy working parents and guardians cannot always make the drive or fit their schedule around visitation. That’s when technology comes to the rescue.
A.E. speaks with his mother.
Thanks to the universality of cell phones and easy-to-use apps like FaceTime, Skype and Hangouts, caseworkers and family liaisons are able to offer families “virtual visits” with their son or daughter.
Virtual visits started in earnest in fiscal 2016, and took off like wildfire. The number of virtual visits across all TJJD facilities jumped from 178 that year to 2,398 in fiscal 2018 – a more than 12-fold increase.
“The kids love it and they ask for it all the time,” says Janet Sheelar, administrative assistant in family and community relations at Giddings State School.
Sheelar, who has supervised some virtual visits, is convinced they help youth maintain stability during periods of worry or separation anxiety. She recounted one virtual visit in which a young man who’d come to TJJD after being in foster care was able to Skype with a sister, also in foster care, with whom he’d lost touch.
“He missed her greatly,” Sheelar said, and the virtual reunion helped both of them emotionally.
Watching A.E., age 16, embrace the iPad during a recent animated chat with his mother, it’s easy to see how virtual visits can bring a youth peace of mind. Though the image bobbed, blurred and even froze for a second or two, it was clearly mom on her phone, walking as she talked and offering glimpses of home.
Rapt, A.E. leaned in so close it’s a wonder his breath didn’t fog the screen. He hadn’t seen his mother for several months because she was uneasy about making an in-person visit to the Evins Regional Juvenile Center.
That’s a concern familiar to staff at the TJJD secure facility in Edinburg about 25 miles from the US-Mexico border.
Even when parents have current work visas, if they’ve immigrated from Mexico, they may be reluctant to visit, said Elva Benitez, family liaison for the Evins campus. They are concerned about interacting with any officials, even juvenile justice officers. Some also worry about passing through highway checkpoints set up inside Texas to intercept contraband or illegal immigrants.
Elva Benitez visits with A.E.
In some cases, a parent or grandparent is on the Mexico side of the border and worried they will be wrongly detained in the US, which could cost them their job back home.
“They just can’t face coming to a facility,” Benitez explained.
More often, however, the barrier to visiting is economic. Many other families may not have a trustworthy vehicle or feel they can spare the gas money for the trip to Evins from Houston or San Antonio, Benitez said.
Sometimes the South Texas Youth Council steps in to help. A non-profit organized to assist at-risk and incarcerated youth in the Edinburg-McAllen-Harlingen region of the Rio Grande Valley, the council gives gifts to the young men at Evins and underwrites special events, like the traditional holiday feast for staff and youth, which this year featured 900 tamales handmade by a volunteer.
During its December meeting, the council voted to give $60 to a San Antonio family to help them attend their son’s high school graduation at Evins and $32 to another San Antonio family for gas money so they could witness a religious ceremony marking their son’s completion of Catholic classes.
With so many parents of TJJD youth facing economic difficulties, the virtual visits have been a virtual godsend, say Benitez and Sheelar.
Benitez sets a goal of offering a virtual chat monthly to every youth on her list who has not seen his parents or guardians in person for several weeks. After calling the parents, she sets a time that enables the youth to come after school hours. On the day of the visit, she calls again to remind the family of the electronic meeting, because sometimes their availability has changed. This practice has helped avert disappointed youth, she says, because she can alert them about any rescheduling before they arrive.
A youth visits with relatives at Giddings State School.
When he gets to her office in the social services building, the youth is seated in a corner, facing away from Benitez, but with the screen visible to her. This helps her monitor the visit, but also affords the youth privacy. She works at her desk during the chat, which can last up to a half hour.
The addition of these visits has added to her job duties, and made time management even more crucial.
But it’s worth it, Benitez says, because at the end of these often emotional sessions, the benefit is clear.
“I like to see those smiles,” she said. “That’s very rewarding.”
“I say kudos to whoever thought of doing it this way. It’s easy. And the boys very much look forward to it.” At the end, “the boys say, ‘Thank you very much, Ms. Benitez!’ And also the parents are very humble. They’re very appreciative of the FaceTime session.”
The Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter threw a “Very Merry Un-Birthday Party” on April 13 at the McLennan County State Juvenile Correctional Facility (MCSJCF) in Mart.
Forty-four youth and 111 family members attended the “Alice in Wonderland”-themed party and spent the afternoon playing party games together. Volunteers with the McLennan County Community Resource Council for Troubled Texas Youth served hotdogs, chips, cupcakes, and punch/water to the youth and their families.
Families were permitted to bring an “un-birthday” present to their child during this event, in lieu of a gift for their child’s actual birthdate, which is not allowed.
The gifts had to be one of four designated items - a pair of socks, a pair of house shoes, an age-appropriate book or a pair of pajamas, in black, white or gray or some combination of that.
All gifts were inspected as family members entered the facility, and turned over to staff.
Mary Garrity, family liaison, organized the Family Day event.