Important Information for Judges and Attorneys Handling Cases Involving Mental Health and IDD

Resource Letter for Judges and Attorneys Handling Cases Involving Mental Health and IDD

November 7, 2023

This resource letter is designed to facilitate communication among the JCMH, the judiciary, attorneys, and mental health stakeholders. Please forward this letter to any judges, attorneys, mental health professionals, law enforcement, or other community and state leaders who might be interested. To ensure that you regularly receive this letter, please click on the subscribe button at the bottom of this page, if you have not already.

Juvenile Nuts and Bolts CLE

The Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) and the Juvenile Law Section of the State Bar of Texas recently created webinars about legislative updates as well as the "Nuts and Bolts" of Juvenile Law, including the revisions to Chapter 55 of the Texas Family Code. Registration is required and free. The webinars will be available until August 31, 2024, and have been approved for a total of six hours of CLE credit or six hours of management topics by TJJD for certified officers.

Fitness to Proceed Education Survey

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) has formed a workgroup to develop educational tools and training materials to assist Texas counties in navigating the Fitness to Proceed process in Chapter 55 of the Texas Family Code and in providing restoration services. Members of the workgroup include representatives from juvenile probation departments, courts, attorneys, and HHSC staff.

To better understand how to assist those who work in juvenile courts, the workgroup created a survey. If you work in juvenile courts, please take the survey and share the survey link or the QR Code below with other juvenile court stakeholders in your department and county before December 1, 2023.

For a complete list of Resources, please visit the Judicial Commission on Mental Health webpage. Information provided by the JCMH should not be read as a commentary by the Supreme Court of Texas, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, or any other court. The JCMH website is not equipped to facilitate dialogue or conversation about matters related to the information in this communication. For more information about the JCMH, please visit our website.

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Judicial Commission on Mental Health | TexasJCMH.gov