The Regular Meeting of the Juvenile Justice Board of Directors held Tuesday, September 17th at the Maverick County Court House began with Bruce Ballou(Director of Probation for the Tri-County Area)'s report highlighting the accomplishments, accolades and achievements of the Border Hope Juvenile Residential Facility including a JJDP grant which has been approved in order to hire a certified vocational coordinator to teach small engine repair, building trades and welding to the residents of the facility whose funds will be available in the next few days. Present were the county judges of the Tri-County Area including The Honorable Cynthia Muñiz, 293rd District Judge who chaired the gathering, The Honorable Amado Abascal, 365th District Judge, The Honorable Joe Luna, Zavala County Judge, The Honorable Francisco G. Ponce, Dimmit County Judge and The Honorable David R. Saucedo, Maverick County Judge. Ballou also reported that they are applying for a grant to be able to provide psychological, physical, mental and wellness services, a University of Texas Grant for school services, they have built study carrels and the residents are being educated through E 20-20, a program which is also being utilized in the EPISD for at-risk students seeking credit recovery for any of the four core areas (English. math, science and social studies).

he facility is presently residing four youths, two from Maverick County and two from elsewhere and the director have made contact with law enforcement agencies in Brewster, Uvalde, Zapata, Palmer, Palo Pinto and Terry Counties. He cited a 41% decrease in felony referrals since the onset of the program, 69% less misdemeanors, an 11% decrease in A & B misdemeanors, a 93% decrease in drug trafficking in this area and have almost all but eliminated drug cases involving minors from 27 in 2010, 12 in 2011 and 2 in 2012.