Staff at the Prince William County Criminal Justice Services Agency Recognized for Their Work

The Virginia Community Criminal Justice Association, or VCCJA, recently recognized three people from the Prince William County Criminal Justice Services Agency, or CJS, with awards for collaboration and innovation, meritorious service and outstanding service award for VCCJA leadership.

The CJS’s mission is to work with community stakeholders to reduce victimization, break the cycle of crime and contribute to community restoration.

Stakeholders include judges, commonwealth’s attorneys, court clerks, public defenders, community services, the PWC Re-Entry Council, the Prince William County Department of Social Services, the Prince William-Manassas Adult Regional Detention Center, the Prince William County Bar Association, Prince William County and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park police departments, Prince William Office of Executive Management and the city managers of Manassas and Manassas Park, as well as citizens and community members.

The mission of the VCCJA is to enhance public safety through the development and expansion of pretrial, community corrections and other criminal justice programs in the Commonwealth of Virginia by providing a forum for the discussion and communication of ideas. All members of VCCJA shall be committed to the standards of excellence, integrity and professionalism in the delivery of pretrial and community corrections services.

Collaboration and Innovation Award

Steven Austin, the CJS director, received VCCJA's Collaboration and Innovation Award for his work in leading local stakeholders to establish a Veterans Treatment Docket and a Drug Treatment Court in Prince William County.

The Drug Treatment Court is a supervised treatment program that diverts people from jail and places them in a supervised, intensive services program that provides therapeutic treatment addressing substance use and thinking and decision-making.

People in the program also receive additional services to improve their ability to function in the community. The services include assistance seeking and maintaining employment or educational programs, life skills and other programming. When necessary, participants can receive additional services that address medical and mental health needs, housing and other social needs.

Participants in the program receive supervision and encouragement from their probation officers and treatment providers. They also appear in court regularly and can receive graduated sanctions and incentives to encourage success.

The Greater Prince William Veterans’ Drug Treatment Docket honors those who have served in the United States armed forces. The sacrifices of war and preparing for war take a toll on service members and veterans. The drug treatment docket diverts veterans and service members from jail and addresses their needs.

The program has five phases participants must complete. The veterans’ docket differs from the drug treatment court in that participants are assigned a veteran mentor who acts as a battle buddy to help the veteran through the process. When a veteran completes the Veterans’ Treatment Docket, they can apply to be a veteran mentor to help others gain sobriety, stability and purpose.

Austin supports professional development for CJS staff so they can be promoted within the agency. Austin also created an environment where employees are empowered to participate in the development of agency practices and guide how processes are put into place. 

Outstanding Service Award for VCCJA Leadership

Tomaudrie Thomas, the CJS deputy director, received the association’s Outstanding Service Award for VCCJA Leadership for her work on the VCCJA, where she has served over 15 years as secretary, treasurer, vice-president and now president-elect.

Thomas also served on several VCCJA committees, including the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services Standards Committee, the VCCJA-DCJS Training Committee, the Fundraising Committee and chair of the Cultural Awareness Committee. Thomas currently serves on the Legislative Committee and Pretrial Advancement Committee.

Thomas’ passion to serve and bring about change and move local community corrections and pretrial services forward helped her earn the award.

Thomas brings her passion and commitment to CJS, where she manages the supervision programs and is recognized as a strong and developing leader in Prince William County.

Thomas is currently working with the current VCCJA President to address secondary trauma for community corrections and pretrial staff.

Thomas was appointed by the Board of County Supervisors to participate on the county's Strategic Planning Committee and is the co-lead for the community’s Public Safety Assessment, or PSA, implementation Team. Thomas also serves on the state PSA committee, and she is assisting in leading the agency’s equity and inclusion work plan development and implementation. She spearheaded CJS’s Harm Reduction Community Collaborator Naloxone Program, which provides the community with life-saving medication that can reverse fatal opioid overdoses. The Naloxone program trains people and their families on probation and pretrial supervision on the use of Naloxone.

Meritorious Service Award

Christopher Mayers, CJS senior probation-pretrial officer, earned the VCCJA Meritorious Service Award for his work in enhancing the development of the Veterans’ Drug Treatment Docket program.

During a two-day Justice for Vets Equity course, Mayers and the CJS staff learned the importance of maintaining statistics for the docket to ensure fair and equitable treatment in placing veterans on the docket. The course also led Mayers to adopt a screening process that accounts for equity in the program. Additionally, he developed a quick referral form to assist with client placement. 

Mayers and the docket team developed a marketing plan and created a new progress report for the docket. A progress report serves as a historical record of case and treatment plan goals while tracking the success and failure of the client while they are on the docket. 

The team also developed a new logo along with new messaging by adding a small info box about the docket and links to the referral forms on the CJS website. The team developed brochures for veterans, stakeholders and defense counsel to educate and motivate clients to contact the Veterans Drug Treatment Docket program. Additionally, the team created a docket workbook for the veterans.

Mayers finalized the addition of a Veteran Mentor Coordinator along with three mentors to help run the program. The CJS Team then developed a volunteer tracking system to track mentor volunteer hours.

Seven veterans are currently in the program. Two others are awaiting legal decisions about their participation in the program.

Because of Mayers’ and the team’s work, clients have more support in their re-entry than they did a year ago. The program has adopted Moral Recognition Therapy as their Criminal Thinking group, a component of the docket, and Mayers has taken the lead role in facilitating the weekly group sessions. 

Mayers also created forms that are used to further the program’s efficacy.