Discretionary State Aid (DSA) grants and Regional Diversion Alternatives (RDA) grants

Discretionary State Aid (DSA) grants and Regional Diversion Alternatives (RDA) grants is sponsored by Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD). TJJD provides funding for Discretionary State Aid (DSA) grants and for Regional Diversion Alternatives (RDA) grants.

County Probation and Funding - Texas Juvenile Justice Department TJJD’s Probation Services Division works with juvenile probation departments across Texas to enhance the many services offered to youth referred to the system. We collaborate across the juvenile justice system to coordinate efforts among juvenile boards, juvenile probation departments, and TJJD divisions.

This vital state-county partnership encourages participation from a diverse range of departments across the state, embracing the unique needs of their communities while still working towards the same mission of helping youth reform and find success.

While serving as a central resource for innovative approaches and solutions that support this mission, probation teams play a key role in ensuring successful operations across both county departments, and TJJD. County and state juvenile authorities play distinct but interconnected roles across the continuum of care.

Counties serve all youth entering the system through a range of services — from preventive to prescriptive, covering deferred adjudication, probation, and detention. TJJD supports these efforts through state contracts, grants, and regionalization initiatives that keep the system connected.

Together, this partnership forms the foundation of Texas’ unified juvenile justice system, where local and state authorities support one another to help youth succeed while maintaining accountability. The County Grants department administers TJJD grants to local juvenile probation departments across the state of Texas.

We provide oversight and support in all matters related to grants, including contract provisions, budgeting and expenditure reporting, compliance monitoring, and program implementation and evaluation. Our mission is to help juvenile probation departments successfully utilize their grant funding to provide high quality services with adherence to all grant requirements. Government Code, Chapter 403, Section 403.

0245, requires state agencies and institutions of higher education that award a state grant in an amount greater than $25,000 from funds appropriated through the General Appropriations Act (GAA) to publish the purpose for which the grant was awarded on the agency’s public website.

State Aid Formula Funding Supplemental and Emergent Needs Discretionary State Aid Grant Programs To view the documentation for any of these grants, please visit the list of documents below . State Aid Formula Funding State Aid Formula Funding exists to ensure juvenile probation services are available in all counties statewide. The program complies with Section 223.

001 (a), Human Resources Code (HRC): Sec. 223. 001.

DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF STATE AID. (a) The department shall annually allocate funds for financial assistance to juvenile boards to provide juvenile services according to current estimates of the number of juveniles in each county, a basic probation funding formula for departments that clearly defines what basic probation entails and which services are provided, and other factors the department determines are appropriate.

As required by provisions in the General Appropriations Act, State Aid Formula Funding is allocated across five component grants that align with TJJD’s budgetary strategies.

These component grants address the range of services, programs, and placements the Legislature has identified as minimum priorities for all probation departments: Basic Probation Supervision (BPS): the reporting and case planning of juveniles Community Programs (CP): programs and services for juveniles in the community and related costs Pre/Post Adjudication (PPA): placements and related costs Commitment Diversion (CD): diversion of juveniles from commitment to TJJD Mental Health Services (MHS): programs and services for sex offenders or juveniles with a mental health diagnosis HRC Chapter 223 establishes additional program requirements — including the maintenance of local financial support, special rules for multi-county jurisdictions, and others — which are integrated into the State Aid and Target Grants Contract.

Supplemental and Emergent Needs The Supplemental and Emergent Needs (S&E) program is a non-formula based program within State Aid that provides needs-driven funding over and above a probation department’s initial State Aid formula allocation. S&E funding is restricted insofar as the dollars are awarded for specific purposes. Any juvenile probation department may apply, but not all requests are granted or granted fully.

Funding provided through the S&E program is incorporated into the department’s State Aid award and is subject to all the same restrictions and requirements. Human Resources Code (HRC) Section 203. 017 requires TJJD to implement a regionalization plan designed to keep children receiving juvenile justice services closer to their homes and to improve outcomes through community-based services.

Human Resources Code (HRC) Section 223. 001 requires the agency to set aside a portion of appropriated funds for discretionary state aid to fund programs designed to address special needs or projects of local juvenile boards, including projects dedicated to specific target populations based on risk and needs, and with established recidivism reduction goals.

TJJD provides funding for Discretionary State Aid (DSA) grants and for Regional Diversion Alternatives (RDA) grants for individual youth diversions in response to these mandates. The majority of funds are used to reimburse local probation departments for funds spent on community-based treatment services, placement and aftercare services intended to divert approved youth from commitment to TJJD.

Discretionary State Aid grants adhere to the provision of the HRC 203. 017 requiring TJJD to assist local juvenile probation departments in research-based program development in a variety of ways. Probation regions may receive funds to develop community-based programs needed to meet identified service gaps.

Providing grants to enhance or expand residential program capacity and services in the various regions across Texas. Community program grants to support individual probation department programs and services.

Regional Diversion Alternatives Regional Diversion Alternatives (individual youth diversions) support an array of rehabilitative services for juvenile offenders including, but not limited to, intensive community-based, residential, re-entry and aftercare programs. Following a year-long, collaborative planning process, diversions began in June 2016.

Any probation department that would otherwise recommend a youth for commitment to TJJD may propose an individual diversion plan for approval by TJJD’s Regionalization Division. Such plans specify the proposed youth programs and services, provide information regarding the department’s prior efforts with the youth, and demonstrate how the proposed plan meets the specific needs of the youth in a research-driven way.

Discretionary State Aid Grant Programs Seven Discretionary State Aid grant programs offer funding to probation departments to meet a variety of system needs.

Community and residential projects are commonly funded from the regional diversion alternatives appropriation strategy, the prevention and intervention program is funded through a dedicated appropriation strategy, and the other programs may be funded through money set aside from the state aid appropriation strategies or through state cost savings. Community Projects are DSA grants created to comply with Section 223.

001(c), Human Resources Code. They are juvenile probation or regional programs and services provided in a non-residential setting that are research based and meant to improve a juvenile probation department’s ability to serve youth locally, improve outcomes, and decrease the likelihood of an out-of-home placement or commitment to TJJD. Residential Projects are DSA grants created to comply with Section 223.

001(c), Human Resources Code.

They are juvenile probation or regional programs and services provided in a residential setting that are research based and meant to improve a juvenile probation department’s ability to serve youth locally, improve outcomes, and decrease the likelihood of future out-of-home placement or commitment to TJJD Prevention and Intervention Program The General Appropriations Act charges four state agencies–the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, the Texas Education Agency, and the Texas Military Department–with working in concert to provide juvenile delinquency and student dropout prevention and intervention services.

The Prevention and Intervention grants offered by TJJD are the means by which this agency fulfills that legislative mandate. Special Needs Diversionary Program The Special Needs Diversionary Program (SNDP) provides mental health treatment and specialized caseload probation supervision.

It is administered in a collaborative model by TJJD and the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments (TCOOMMI) or a designated local mental health provider, and features juvenile probation officers from local juvenile probation departments and professional mental health staff from the local mental health centers working together to coordinate services.

Program elements include mental health services (including individual and group therapy, skills training, and case management), probation services (such as life skills, anger management, and mentoring), parental support and education, and linkages to long-term community supports.

Border Children’s Justice Project The Border Children’s Justice Project (BCJP) facilitates collaborative efforts by United States and foreign authorities involving juvenile courts, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), law enforcement, United States and other consulates, child protective agencies and correctional officials.

The objective of the BCJP is to return foreign national juvenile offenders to their respective communities after processing in the Texas juvenile justice system; to assist in the return of US citizen juveniles who have committed offenses in Mexico, Central America, or South America to their home communities in the United States; and to serve foreign nationals residing in the United States.

This grant is provided to support probation departments operating pre and post-adjudication facilities to maintain compliance with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) by funding costs of the facility audit for PREA compliance due every three years. Risk and Needs Assessments This grant provides funding for probation departments to secure a validated risk and needs assessment as required by HRC 221.

003(b) and recommended by TFC 54. 04013. TJJD is directed by rider in the General Appropriations Act to fund three grant programs for specific departments.

Harris County Leadership Academy As directed by rider in the General Appropriations Act, TJJD allocates $1 million each fiscal year to the Harris County Leadership Academy. The Harris County Leadership Academy provides a residential intensive cognitive-based program to redirect the thinking and behavior patterns of male juveniles and remove barriers to their successful transition back to their families and communities.

Vocational Pilot Programs TJJD is required by rider to allocate $250,000 per year to establish pilot programs in Harris, Hidalgo, and Cameron counties administered by non-profits that provide trauma-informed counseling and life-skills and hands-on vocational training for youth who were previously committed to state correctional custody.

Multisystemic Therapy Pilot Programs As directed by rider, TJJD sets aside $1 million per year, providing Harris and El Paso Counties each $500,000 to establish a front-end Multisystemic Therapy (MST) team focused on preventing youth and adolescents from entering the juvenile justice and child welfare systems.

• State Aid and Target Grants (2026-2027) • Border Children's Justice Project (2026-2027) • Community Project - DSA (2026-2027) • Detention Project - DSA (2026-2027) • Harris County Leadership Academy (2026-2027) • Prevention and Intervention - DSA (2026-2027) • Regional Diversion Alternatives Program - DSA (2026-2027) • Residential Project - DSA (2026-2027) • Special Needs Diversionary Program (2026-2027) • JJAEP Discretionary (2026-2027) • JJAEP Program (Reimbursement) (2026-2027) • Salary Adjustment - Directed (2026-2027) Instructions and Information • 2027 County Budget Tool • Budget Adjustment Requests for Departments in Fluxx 2025 • Budget/Expenditure Categories & Definitions • County Budget Tool Information • Expenditure Entry in Fluxx for Departments • Fluxx Portal Access Form • How to apply for PREA Audit Assistance • How to impersonate an employee of a Department • How to Submit Special Request Amendments in Fluxx for Departments Disbursements and Reimbursements • FY26 RDA Monthly Payments • Regional Diversion Reimbursements (Panhandle, West, North) • Regional Diversion Reimbursements (Central, Northeast, South, Southeast) • RDA Reimbursement payments (beginning FY2023) • FY 2020 Disbursements (Panhandle, West, North) • FY 2020 Disbursements (Central, Northeast, South, Southeast) brandi.

wagner@tjjd. texas. gov County Grants Fiscal Administrator kristin.

m. hammock@tjjd. texas.

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