Experienced Probation Officer Training

The first 8 hours of the training will focus on the following:

The 80th Texas Legislature – Summary of Legislation Affecting Special Needs Offenders
Presenter: Paul Ferris, LCSW, Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments - TDCJ; Vonzo Tolbert, TJPC
This session will focus on the actions taken by this year’s Texas Legislature regarding offenders with special needs.

The Mental Health Initiative
Presenters: Victoria Trinidad, Community Justice Assistance Division – TDCJ; Lynn Arneson, Community Justice Assistance Division – TDCJ; Paul Ferris, LCSW, Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments - TDCJ
The Mental Health Initiative was passed by the 77th Legislature to provide a solution to the gap in community mental health treatment for probationers. This session will provide an overview of the development, history, and current implementation of the Mental Health Initiative.

Williamson County SNDP
Presenter: Kat Montgomery, Bluebonnet Trails MHMR Center
This session is designed to discuss Williamson County's juvenile SNDP program (known as PROMPT) from a "front line" perspective. The information covered will be an in depth look at the program's purpose, structure, and services provided to juveniles diagnosed with mental health disabilities.

Substance Juvenile Delinquency and Substance Abuse
Presenter: Kat Montgomery, Bluebonnet Trails MHMR Center
This session is designed to discuss substance abuse within juvenile delinquency. The topics will include risk factors, statistics, community-based interventions, variations of treatment, and the importance of evidence-based practice (EBP) with regard to this population.

Bexar County’s Mentally Ill Offender Facility
Presenter: John Escalante, Bexar County CSCD; Mary Glenney, Bexar County CSCD
Bexar County, with support from CJAD and TCOOMMI, has developed a residential treatment facility for probationers with mental illness. Programming includes assistance in learning living skills, coping with their mental illness, employment skills, education, and self-advocacy.

The Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments (TCOOMMI)
Presenter: Paul Ferris, LCSW, TCOOMMI-TDCJ
Since the establishment of the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments (TCOOMMI) in 1987, policy initiatives enacted by the Legislature have had a positive impact on the overall service delivery system for juvenile and adult offenders with special needs. This presentation will review TCOOMMI functions and activities.

Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, and Major Depression – An Overview
Presenter: Paul Ferris, LCSW, TCOOMMI-TDCJ
Known as the “Big 3,” people with these disorders are in the target population of those served by local MHMR Centers. This session will discuss the basics of these disorders – symptoms, treatment options, and suggestions on how to deal with people who have these illnesses.

The final 8 hours of the training will be led by Retired HPD Investigator, Dwayne Wright. Officer Wright is employed with the Houston Police Department for the past 25 years where his assignments have included the Southeast Command/Patrol Division for ten years and seven years as an investigator in the Sex Abuse Unit. While assigned to the Sex Abuse Unit officer Wright interviewed hundreds of sexual predators. Officer Wright conducted a four-year study in the California Correctional Institution where he interviewed serial sex offenders in the California Correctional Facility, Sacramento Correctional Facility, Folsom State Prison and San Quentin Prison. Officer Wright is presently assigned to the Houston Police Academy where he teaches Profiling Criminal Behavior, Detecting Deception in Interviewing, Terrorism Identification, Forensic Hypnosis and Sexual and Physical Abuse Investigations. Officer Wright has obtained a BSS in Psychology at the University of Houston and a Masters Degree form Midwestern State University.

This portion of the training will involve profiling the behavioral characteristics of violent sexual predators. Police officers, Investigators, Prosecutors, Probation and Parole officers who deal with these types of offender’s in their line of work need to have a basic understanding as to the mind set these offenders carry with them before and after they commit such offenses. During this seminar students will be introduced to certain offender characteristics that are displayed during Pre-Crime, Crime-Scene and Post-Crime behaviors. The early fantasy development that begins at an early age in adolescence along with how these behaviors are developed in the offenders early teen years will also be discussed.

* Unless otherwise noted, hotel arrangements are the responsibility of the participant.