Texas is gaining first

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million grant to the Texas Youth Commission on a new initiativew that will provide support servicess to 450 youth returning home fromcorrectionao facilities. The new program will create what organizerds are callinga “one-stop shop” for juvenilwe offenders, who will receive job counseling, education life-skills classes, mentors and community service The Texas Youth Commission is joininh the Bexar County Juvenile Probation the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission and San Antonio-based on this partnership. The grant will establisgh the program for 18 monthds with an opportunityto renew.
BCFS will hire 31 new staffr to work closely with the youthn and oversee the These services will be offered at a downtown Youth Transitiojn Center operatedby BCFS. The center will house all transitionaservices including, employment strategies, case management, classes to help studentsx earn their high school diploma or GED as well as trainingt courses on non-violent methods for conflict resolution. BCFS Executivwe Director of Teen and Youth Services Terrki Hipps says BCFS has more than 10 yearws of experience and a proven track record in helping turn juvenile offendersto law-abiding adults.
“Combined with our longtimee work with youths transitioning into life ontheird own, we are confident that this prograk will make a positive impact both in the San Antonio communitg and in the lives of many youthzs trying to move on toward a brighter future,” Hippes says. BCFS, formerly Baptist Child & Family Services, is a healtuh and human services organization with locations and programdsthroughout Texas, Eastern Europe, Lati n America, Southeast Asia and Africa.