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Second Judicial District pitches gun‑violence intervention and drug‑treatment court tracks
Summary
Second Judicial District judges and program managers described a 16‑week gun‑violence intervention track and a juvenile drug treatment court track aimed at high‑risk youth; presenters cited completion and recidivism rates and asked for funding and partnerships to scale the programs.
The Second Judicial District told lawmakers it has built specialized, court‑supervised treatment tracks for juveniles charged with firearm offenses and for young people with substance‑use disorders, and asked for funding and system support to expand both tracks.
Presiding Judge Alma Christina Robertson introduced the district’s Community Gun Violence Intervention Program and its 16‑week psychoeducational curriculum, and said the program was designed for high‑risk adolescents referred from juvenile dockets. "We created a 16 week curriculum," Tanya Tijerina said, explaining that the program combines skill building (impulse control, emotional regulation), family engagement, and peer support alongside community partners such as the fire department, APD and the sheriff’s office.
Tijerina reported program outputs to the committee: the program began taking referrals in 2020, had received hundreds of referrals, and "from that, we have had 117 young people complete the program," with 22 of those subsequently charged with new gun offenses, yielding a cited recidivism rate of 18.8 percent among completers. She urged the committee to support funding and partnerships to scale the track.
Lindsay Jones described the juvenile drug treatment court, a specialty docket that emphasizes intensive, phase‑based supervision, frequent judicial oversight, individualized treatment planning and multiagency treatment teams. Jones said the docket has had 644 referrals and 259 completions in its tracked period and described an intent‑to‑treat recidivism figure of roughly 30 percent (which includes youth who did not complete the full program).
Both presenters said the tracks emphasize cultural relevance, family engagement, judicial oversight, and partnerships with community providers. They asked legislators to consider sustained funding, support for certification and fidelity to best practices, and assistance in expanding access so the programs can handle higher volumes of high‑risk youth while maintaining quality oversight.
The committee asked about funding sources and the programs' capacity to expand; no vote was taken and members requested follow‑up budget materials.
