Lubbock County juvenile justice officials set to open new education complex

Eight portable buildings made in the mid-1950s sat on the west side of the Lubbock County Juvenile Justice Center and served as classrooms for its residents since the late 1990s.

Every morning, the juveniles would be escorted outside the main building and ushered into the temporary buildings, where they would spend the day taught by Lubbock Independent School District teachers.

"If they're going to be here any length of time over a couple of days, they're enrolled in Lubbock Independent School District," said William Carter, Director of the Lubbock County Juvenile Justice Center. "Now, where that comes into play, you have Lubbock-Cooper, Frenship, Roosevelt, New Deal, Shallowater and then the surrounding counties that if a kid is brought in and we're going to keep in very long, they're unenrolled from that home school district and put into LISD."

Once released, the juveniles would either re-enroll at their home school district or to an alternative education program, he said.

"So when the kids are brought here, whether they're here for a short amount of time, or a long amount of time, we concentrate on making sure that they're not getting behind in their school," Carter said.

However, the portable buildings were meant as a temporary solution to the juvenile justice center's growing population, he said.

Carter, who started his 13th year as director in late November, said getting juveniles out of the portable school buildings and into a permanent one became one of his main priorities when he started.

"They were getting so old and dilapidated, they were in need of some extensive repairs," he said.

It's a goal that came to fruition early last year when construction began on a $3.6 million project that established a new wing to the juvenile justice center, adding 10 classrooms, a multipurpose room, new offices and dedicated suites for psychological evaluations and counseling sessions.

As construction of the educational complex neared completion, the portable buildings were removed from the campus.

"We're waiting for the certificate of occupancy right now," Carter said. "There's just a few little items that we had to get done before we can occupy. Hopefully, right after the first of the year, we're going to be able to be in the facility."

At present, the center's 72 juveniles are taking their classes in unused dormitories.

Carter said the new education complex will enhance the juvenile justice center's mission of rehabilitation.

"Education is essential to rehabilitation, and we're all about rehabilitation," he said. "Eventually these kids are going to be back on the streets, and the more education we can give them here, maybe it will spark something for them to stay in school and further their education. Without education, rehabilitation is nothing."

Since the education wing is connected to the center, juveniles won't have to leave the building where they're exposed to the elements. It also eliminates opportunities of escaping the facility.

The project was funded with money Lubbock County obtained through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

"We were able to build this using ARPA funds so it didn't cost Lubbock County taxpayers directly to build this," said Lubbock County Judge Curtis Parrish. "We were able to build this without affecting the property tax rate."

Meanwhile, LISD will provide the technology used in the classrooms such as smartboards.

"A lot of our education components now are online and remote, and so with this, we will be wired with cameras and with monitors and so, a lot of that technology that we're seeing in our public schools, we're going to see now at this education center at juvenile justice," he said.

Parrish said improving education at the juvenile justice center was also his priority when he took office in 2018.

"We know that juvenile crime has been increasing," he said. "In fact, one of the biggest demographic jumps we've seen in crime is with juveniles. And so, while we have them incarcerated, we need to educate them, because I do think the whole purpose of juvenile justice is to keep juvenile offenders from becoming adult offenders, and I think education is that key."

He said he hopes offering a first-class educational facility encourages juvenile offenders to turn away from crime.

"Then I think we have an opportunity to not just change that child, but to then change society as well and have less adult crimes if we can somehow reach them while they're juveniles," he said.

Aside from classrooms, the education wing also contains rooms for counseling sessions and psychological evaluations.

At present, counseling sessions are done in the dormitories where juvenile residents may not open up as much.

"This will be more conducive for a therapeutic setting," Carter said.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock juvenile justice center to open new education complex