Page 34 - Juvenile Practice is not Child's Play

8. Disposition/Sentencing
You may want to request an evaluation to use as mitigation evidence in sentencing. Factors that might suggest

referral for an evaluation are:
• Offense committed under influence of substances or history of substance abuse suggested;
• History of emotional/behavioral problems;
• History of abuse or neglect;

• History of poor academic achievement;
• Limited intellectual function; and
• History of violence
Texas law provides that children who receive indeterminate sentences to TJJD must be released after the

minimum period of time if their mental health illness or intellectual disability is preventing them from
completing the program. Tex. Hum. Res. Code § 244.001(b)(2). Try to find the least restrictive, best disposition
for your client. If you and your client are discussing probation, make sure your client has the resources to

successfully complete probation, thereby decreasing the chance that your client will reenter the youth justice
system. When considering how to best dispose of your client’s case through a plea bargain, ask:
• Is my client’s family available to my client in positive and supportive ways?
• What are the treatment alternatives available in my client’s community? You should consider office-

based counseling, intensive in-home services, day-treatment programs, and therapeutic foster care as
alternatives to a residential center if appropriate. Boot camps and other such programs are
inappropriate placements for children or adolescents with mental health issues. For more serious or

chronic offenders, you may want to present to the court your county’s Community Resource
Coordination Group (CRCG) as an alternative to a commitment to TJJD. The CRCG in your county
should bring together all of the major players in the mental health and youth justice arenas to staff your
client’s case and come up with creative ways to treat your client without incarceration in TJJD.

Once the child has been adjudicated a delinquent and they are under deferred prosecution supervision or court-

ordered probation, the probation officer may determine that the child has a mental health illness or an
intellectual disability and that they are not receiving services. In that case, the probation officer should make a
referral to a local mental health authority for evaluation and services.