
By David N. Krough, TJJD Communications —
This week a contingent from the Ohio Department of Youth Services visited TJJD to learn more about implementing Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) techniques.
Facility Superintendents Kenny Black and Amanda Jones, Deputy Director Chris Freeman, Chief of Behavioral Health Services Ryan Smith, Training Academy Director Dr. Anna Wise, Bureau Chief Dr. Gretchen Lapp and Administrative Asst. Tamika Colbert attended their first session with TJJD’s Director of Treatment Services Evan Norton and Troy McPeak of the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development at Texas Christian University, in Fort Worth.
McPeak previously served as the associate director of the Texas Model. In March 2023, he became a TBRI trainer for the Karyn Purvis Institute. TJJD Assistant Superintendent of Education Robert Fischer joined the group to discuss TBRI training for administrators and staff as well as youth.

TBRI is designed for children who have experienced early trauma or harm. It’s a strategy for helping youth recover from trauma so they can make progress in their lives. In corrections, it can also help youth who’ve been emotionally, physically or sexually abused in their early development keep regulated, connect to others and learn healthier patterns of behavior.
The goals of TBRI focus on the balance between structure and nurture. It stresses trusting relationships as a foundation for effecting change in youth with behavioral needs and teaches methods for building those connections, such as playful engagement and offering positive feedback. TBRI aims to help staff catch behavior “low” before it escalates, averting needless conflicts.
The Ohio DYS operates juvenile facilities that house felony offenders, ages 10-21. Their facilities also operate year-round schools with general curriculum and vocation opportunities. The system is currently planning multiple program and facility changes recommended by the Juvenile Justice Working Group under the guidance of Gov. Mike DeWine.
McPeak detailed the history of juvenile justice systems in Texas and how the Texas Model and TBRI methods are replacing the boot camp-type approach to youth corrections. TBRI techniques, he said, have led to better outcomes for youth and staff alike.

“I was tired of restraining kids every day, per training,” McPeak said of his early days as a corrections officer. He later worked at the Williamson County Juvenile Justice Department, which in 2016 became the first juvenile facility in Texas to adopt TBRI practices. McPeak became an early adopter and practitioner.
McPeak explained that many adjudicated youths have never had anyone serving as a positive behavior model or available to teach them.
“Their environment dictated the terms,” he said. “There should have been someone there to teach them (life skills). With TBRI practices, “we are letting them know through personal engagement we’re here to help, engagement through the person, not the process (or the) system.”
Members of the Ohio DYS contingent also asked about strategies for risk and needs assessment, mental health and substance abuse treatment that state agencies can offer to youth.

The group also met to learn about implementing TBRI training with administrators and staff. On Tuesday, they toured Giddings State School to see and learn more about how TJJD employs the Texas Model, TBRI and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).
On Wednesday, the Ohio group saw a presentation and toured the Williamson County Juvenile Justice Department and its well-established TBRI program.
TBRI has delivered “good outcomes,” for the department, said Deputy Juvenile Probation Chief Matt Smith. “We’ve gotten commitments (to state facilities) down and our violations of probation are down since implementing TBRI.”
McPeak recalled a conversation with an adult correctional inmate during one of his TBRI training sessions who revealed such help could have been life-changing.
“If we would have known this information as youngsters – we wouldn’t be in here now,” the inmate told him.