Tarrant County was unfair in ending juvenile justice system contracts, CEO says. Why?

Kamal Morgan

September 18, 2024 at 10:51 a.m.·4 min read

The leader of Youth Advocate Programs Inc., which has provided services to children in the Tarrant County juvenile justice system, said he feels the county unfairly ended contracts with his organization over language on its website, noting other organizations that do business with the county have had similar language on their websites.

The Tarrant County Juvenile Board discontinued contracts with Youth Advocate Programs in July after a variety of issues were raised, including concerns from Judge Tim O’Hare about language on the organization’s website about “diversity initiatives” and “systemic racism.”

Gary Ivory, president and CEO of Youth Advocate Programs, said he met with O’Hare in July after the Tarrant County Juvenile Board voted to end contracts with his organization. Ivory said he showed O’Hare screenshots from the website of My Health My Resources of Tarrant County (MHMR) and other organizations that do business with the county that had the same language on their websites.

Ivory said he did not show the screenshots to O’Hare to disparage the other organizations but wanted equal and equitable treatment.

“What we want to show is that other organizations in Tarrant County were also using the same language as we were,” Ivory told the Star-Telegram. “We had a contract terminated and they didn’t.”

MHMR is being considered for a contract with Tarrant County Juvenile Services to replace services provided by Youth Advocate Programs.

MHMR previously had a webpage dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion, according to an archived version of MHMR’s website.

The webpage said MHMR is “committed to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment that represents our community.” It also included a now defunct YouTube video with MHMR employees sharing their thoughts on diversity, equity and inclusion at MHMR.

The webpage described diversity as the “range of human differences, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, social class, physical ability or attributes, religious or ethical values system, national origin, and political beliefs.”

The webpage no longer exists on MHMR’s “About Us” tab.

MHMR did not respond to questions about the screenshots, including when and why the web page was taken down.

MHMR has other contracts with Juvenile Services to provide such services as mental health assessments, residential substance abuse treatment and clinical management for behavioral health.

The new proposed contract — which is to be considered by the Juvenile Board Sept. 18 — says MHMR would provide a holistic “wraparound” approach for rehabilitation and support services. MHMR would “address the multifaceted needs of at-risk youth through coordinated services, enhancing their chances of rehabilitation, reducing recidivism and promoting positive youth development,” according to the contract, which is worth up to $895,000.

O’Hare made the motion to discontinue the programs with Youth Advocate Programs in July. He did not respond to questions about the screenshots on the MHMR page about diversity, equity and inclusion.

Judge Alex Kim, chair of the Tarrant County Juvenile Board, said he voted to discontinue the contract with Youth Advocate Programs (YAP) because he said the organization uses taxpayer money for lobbying.

“Mr. Ivory directly stated that YAP hired lobbyists, and the Juvenile Board should not be sending tax dollars to lobbyists,” Kim said in email to the Star-Telegram. “YAP was contracted to provide services to youth, not advocate for legislative change which Tarrant County citizens may or may not agree with.”

Ivory said Youth Advocate Programs does not use Tarrant County taxpayer money for lobbyists. Payments to lobbyists are made from philanthropic donations, he told the Star-Telegram.

The nonpartisan Youth Advocate Programs, based in Pennsylvania, provided counseling, mentors and community service opportunities to children in an effort to reduce repeat offenders. The company worked with the county since 1992.

Nearly 70% of children under the supervision of Juvenile Services received services from Youth Advocate Programs, according to Bennie Medlin, the department’s director and chief juvenile probation officer.

The decision to end the contract with Youth Advocate Programs affected services for about 75 youth at the time the contracts were ended. The contracts provided for services for up to 423 youths per year.

On Aug. 6, several Tarrant County residents attended the Commissioners Court meeting to speak on behalf of Youth Advocate Programs.

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