By TJJD Communications —
The Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) has launched a new partnership with Praesidium — a national leader in preventing sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults — as part of agency efforts to become Praesidium Guardian Certified. If successful, TJJD would be the first correctional institution of any kind to earn the designation.
The Praesidium Guardian standards are recognized nationwide and have been adopted by leading youth-serving organizations, including the YMCA and Boys & Girls Clubs of America. This certification represents a comprehensive, prevention-first approach to safeguarding youth.
Advancing a Prevention-First Model in Juvenile Justice
The process began in late 2025 when TJJD’s application was submitted and on-site assessments began. In early 2026, 24 TJJD employees — including executive leadership, facility administrators, and staff responsible for monitoring the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) compliance — completed a three-day workshop centered on Praesidium’s “Safety Equation.”
Praesidium’s “Safety Equation” is a research-based framework based around eight operational factors designed to proactively identify and mitigate risks before abuse occurs. Rather than focusing solely on incident response, the model emphasizes staffing patterns, supervision, reporting culture, environmental design, and accountability structures.
By embedding prevention into every side of our operational systems, we are moving beyond just compliance toward a sustainability driven model focused on culture and safety.
Commitment to Protecting Youth
TJJD Executive Director, Shandra Carter, said the agency’s goal is prevention, not simply adhering to regulations.
“TJJD is committed to ensuring best practices for the protection of all youth in our care and custody,” Carter said. “Partnering with Praesidium with the goal of Guardian certification demonstrates our commitment and ensures that we are doing everything within our power to keep youth safe from sexual abuse.”
Guardian certification is not a one-time audit, but a year-long accreditation process that includes comprehensive risk assessments, on-site observations, policy implementation, improving systems and standards, and follow-up verification. Even after certification, annual reviews are required to maintain the designation—reenforcing our values of accountability, growth, and excellence.
For Praesidium, the effort represents a shift in how correctional systems approach safety — from reacting to incidents to engineering environments where they are less likely to occur.
“We applaud the Texas Juvenile Justice Department for taking a leadership-forward approach to prevention,” said Audrey Oliver, Praesidium’s senior director of consulting. “By bringing key leaders together through the Certified Praesidium Guardian Workshop, TJJD is reinforcing shared responsibility and sustainable practices that help create safer environments for everyone in their care.”
Raising the Bar in Juvenile Justice
As a state agency charged with rehabilitating youth in secure environments, TJJD recognizes the enormous role safety plays in every youth’s outcome. Achieving Praesidium Guardian Certification would signal not just adherence to nationally recognized standards, but a cultural shift toward proactive risk prevention in juvenile correctional facilities.
If TJJD achieves certification, it will not be the finish line, but evidence of something harder to document: building systems designed so the worst events never happen at all. It means TJJD will be a place where prevention is embedded, accountability is continuous, and youth protection will always remain the highest priority.