TYC provides both basic and specialized treatment. The four cornerstones of TYC's basic resocialization program are correctional therapy, education, work, and discipline training. The program is designed to enhance the personal accountability of delinquent youth by removing justification for continued delinquency and providing skills that will enable these youth to make prosocial choices in the future.
Some youth have more intensive needs.
TYC operates specialized treatment programs for capital and serious violent offenders, sex offenders, chemically dependent youth, and youth with severe emotional disturbances. The agency also contracts for specialized services for offenders with mental retardation. In compliance with Section 61.0315 of the Human Resources Code, this annual review analyzes the effectiveness of TYC in reducing recidivism of delinquent youth. Overall results demonstrated that TYC is increasingly successful at reducing subsequent serious criminal behavior over the last five years. Even after statistically controlling for differences in the types of youth served and placement locations on release, there has been a dramatic reduction in rearrests for the most serious offenses for the time period studied.