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

The proposed project is based on OJJDP’s recommended guidelines and strategies for addressing racial and ethnic disparities (R/ED) in addition to place-based research that substantiates that Texas youth enter the juvenile justice system at racially disproportionate rates through the Texas public school system as well as the extensive history of trauma that youth engaged with the Texas Juvenile Justice Department have experienced. Specifically, this project utilizes a multimodal approach to bring forth two of the three strategies that OJJDP recommends for addressing R/ED: (1) training and technical assistance and (2) system change, and prioritizes engaging decisionmakers at critical contact points along the juvenile justice pathway: personnel working in school districts, law enforcement, and the juvenile justice system.