STEP UP Texas: Improving Juvenile Justice Outcomes with Trauma-Informed and Restorative Practices Training

This proposed project is an expansion of current FY2019 NPS-funded efforts which aim to address Racial and Ethnic Disparities (RED) by providing training and technical support to personnel in organizations that interface with youth at critical contact points along the juvenile justice process, specifically: public school districts; law enforcement; and the judicial system. This proposed FY2020/2021 NPS project will continue to address RED and will integrate learning and momentum from our current county-wide project to expand our model to a state-wide level, ultimately benefitting children and youth across the state of Texas.

    Proposed activities have far-reaching and sustainable implications. Activities include providing the following to personnel working in organizations at critical contact points across the state: 1) training and train-the-trainer certifications in Trauma-Informed and Restorative Practices, 2) implementation technical assistance, and 3) support for RED-related policy review and policy change. The project design includes funding 9 Training and Technical Assistance Provider (TTAP) Teams consisting of one school-focused TTAP and one law enforcement/judicial-focused TTAP who will be located in jurisdictions across the state of Texas and will be employed by organizations who successfully respond to a project-sponsored RFP process. TTAP Teams will receive training and ongoing support by the Project Leadership Team. In addition, the project will supply train-the-trainer training in emotional/social/racial intelligence directly to one law enforcement administrator and one law enforcement training coordinator in each of the 9 jurisdictions. These efforts will be guided by community-represented Task Forces who will be familiar with the nuances of their respective jurisdictions.
 

    The project’s products and deliverables include training and train-the-trainer certifications, data analysis substantiating positive change toward reducing RED, policy review and analysis toward reducing RED, and organization-level and/or system-level policy change toward reducing RED.
 

    The service area is the state of Texas with specific jurisdictions identified during the RFP process. Jurisdictions will be selected based on their demonstrated readiness and commitment to the work. This project aims primarily to benefit children and youth in the state of Texas while increasing the capacity of personnel, systems, and jurisdictions throughout the state.
    The applicant and its two subaward partners are well positioned to implement this proposed statewide project. Through our work on the FY19 NPS project, we have built momentum such that we have received written endorsement by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, the state agency that oversees all juvenile justice activities in Texas (see Letter of Support-TJJD).