Elizabeth F. Wiggins, Attorney at Law

8. From Rock Bottom to Recovery: Jennifer’s Journey of Resilience Through a Midland County Specialty Court Program  

Beyond the Bench: A Conversation on Specialty Courts and Leadership with Judge Phillips  

6. Things You Should Know When You Create a Texas Specialty Court  

It’s All About the Kids…and the Data! The PodTASC is back with another phenomenal guest speaker, Rosie Medina, Chief Juvenile Probation Officer of El Paso County. Rosie shares about her experiences with juvenile specialty court programs and how data can be used to reevaluate your program. As promised, find links/information below about....

Trailer: Coming Soon! The Texas Association of Specialty Courts is bringing you a podcast solely dedicated to all things specialty court programs. Join the host, Liz Wiggins, as she kicks off the first episode in January 2024!

I’m the one usually asking this of my husband, but this may as well have been his answer every time I asked…

Let it go people… let it go, it ain’t your house no more…

Mental health awareness month is almost over, but mental illnesses won’t end on May 31st. I don’t know what you are going through. I don’t know your life. I haven’t walked in your shoes. But I know challenges. I know opposition. I know mental and emotional struggles. And I am on familiar terms with perseverance. Take care of yourself and ask for help if you need it.

If you need a little pick me up, start some new podcasts today:

James Clear - Atomic Habits https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-entreleadership-podcast/id435836905?i=1000428080039

Adam Grant - work life https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/worklife-with-adam-grant/id1346314086

Brene Brown - she has so many just choose one (I’m partial to Atlas of the Heart)

If you need more, reach out to someone. Don’t go it alone.

While advocates have long been calling for juvenile courts to expand diversion opportunities for first time and low-level offenders, the COVID-19 pandemic caused many jurisdictions to look for informal alternatives to arrest, detention and court involvement as a way to limit input into the justice system. As a post-pandemic society emerges, jurisdictions are encouraged to formalize these diversion opportunities and determine the extent to which they are effective by formulating research questions and gathering data for analysis.

Here are some court resources for best practices in juvenile diversion: https://bit.ly/3tZzhb3.

Today’s Wisdom: It’s never a right time to make a hard choice.

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/19/texas-schools-mask-mandates-supreme-court-greg-abbott/

Texas Supreme Court temporarily allows school mask mandates to remain Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott wanted the high court to disallow mask mandates in Texas school districts. Justices dismissed their request on a technicality, without issuing a ruling on their legal arguments.

What dedication would you write at the beginning of your life story?