Support Our Youth and Families February 2020 | Page 3

tie a tie and gave each participant youth,” Thompson said. “Being Every etiquette class is different
a proper handshake as they able to provide, learn, and grow and highlights something new
received their My Little Gentleman together is extremely beautiful. Our for the boys to learn. For those
certificates. community needs more leaders who have participated in the
who aren’t afraid to take on the past, attending again is highly
The classes are led by Recreation challenge. With this class, I have encouraged as classes will always
Program Coordinator Jheron genuinely accepted that role.” be dynamic and offer new lessons
Thompson, who says he is excited
for boys who have already learned
to have an opportunity to lead these So far, APRD has hosted five
young men. classes with a total of 76 boys in
the basics.
attendance across all classes. The This unique class is helping
“I think this class is very unique class capacity is currently at 25, but Arlington youth grow into the most
because not only do we not have there is a possibility of expanding polite young men around. Dress
another class like this in our that number to 30 due to the high in your Sunday best and join us at
community, but we are providing enrollment. our next My Little Gentleman class,
positive opportunities for our
scheduled for April 4, 2020.
CITY OF ARLINGTON MUNICIPAL COURT
ARLINGTON EXPANDS DIVERSION
PROGRAM CASE MANAGER STAFF
The Arlington Diversion Program has expanded and Arlington Youth) and CHAMPS (Creating Healthy
now has five Juvenile Case Managers! The Diversion Academic Mentoring Partnership for Students). The
program (under the City of Arlington Judge’s Office) is TIPS (Truancy Intervention Program Support) program
a partnership with the Arlington and Mansfield school operates with four school-based Juvenile Case
district. The diversion program engages strategies to Managers.
redirect students from further entrance into the juvenile
justice system.
The case managers are housed in Sam Houston High
School, Carter Junior High School, Workman Junior
The primary goals, in addition to maintaining public High School, Summit High School, and TA Howard
safety, are youth development (social emotional Intermediate.
learning), addressing educational barriers, and youth
successfully remaining in the community. The Diversion The TIPS program centers on preventing truant
Program served 643 students (2018-2019) in nine conduct, academic failure, school dropout, and juvenile
schools and is currently serving students in 15 schools delinquency.
under seven different programs.
The seven programs consists of: CHANGE (Courts
Helping a New Generation Excel), Discover (a boys
skill-building program), GRACE (Girls Recommitting
and Conquering Education) a girls mentoring program,
and Teen Talk (a peer-to-peer mentoring program). The
Diversion Program also partners with the Arlington
Police Department in the MAY program (Mentoring