Partners: Saint Mary Parish Sheriff's Office, 16th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, 16th Judicial Court System, Texas Christian University
Focus areas: Personnel, Community Engagement, Youth
St. Mary Parish encompasses 1,119 square miles in central southern Louisiana, about half of which is water. The St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office, with a total staff of 142, provides law enforcement service to a population of 48,232. St. Mary Parish has seen a recent increase in gun violence, particularly among offenders under the age of 18.
To address this challenge, the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s office is using RVCRI funding to implement a Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) model to provide services to select youth in the juvenile justice system. The TBRI model was developed at Texas Christian University and is designed to meet the basic relational and developmental needs of at-risk youth. Sheriff’s Office staff will work with juvenile court staff and community partners, including faith-based agencies, to identify program participants and implement the TBRI model. Texas Christian University will provide support for program implementation and for assessing the impact of the TBRI model.
RVCRI is an effort funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to assist rural communities seeking to address violent crime.
The DOJ Bureau of Justice Assistance is supporting data-driven, comprehensive responses to crime in some of the country’s most troubled communities through BCJI.