Aimee Crockett
Lieutenant, Smith County Sherriff's Office
Aimee Crockett is a Lieutenant with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office in Tyler, Texas. She has been in county corrections for over thirty years, beginning her career at the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office. While in Dallas, Aimee worked in all facets of the detention’s bureau, the identification/fingerprint section, and she spent a decade in the training academy working with the Basic County Corrections Course. After her time in Dallas, she joined the Correctional Management Institute of Texas (CMIT) as a Project Coordinator. Aimee is a graduate of the National Jail Leadership Command Academy, Class #7, and facilitated the NJLCA program while at CMIT. She also had the opportunity to coordinate the Jail Administration Management and Operations course and the Annual Mental Health Conference during her tenure at CMIT. Lieutenant Crockett serves Smith County as the training lieutenant over the Jail Training Division.
Aimee is a lifetime member of the Texas Jail Association, currently serving in the position of Treasurer, and is also a member of the American Jail Association. She is a trainer and presenter for CMIT, TJA, AJA, and has attended NIC training for trainers on Direct Supervision.
Jennifer Brashear
Forensic Program Coordinator, Andrews Center
Jennifer Brashear has worked in the field of mental health and substance use services since 1996. She has a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and is a Licensed Professional Counselor. She has worked with LMHA’s since 2007 and began specializing in forensic services in 2015. She is currently the Forensic Program Coordinator at Andrews Center and oversees outpatient and jail based competency restoration, outpatient sanity treatment, and jail continuity of care services for Smith, Henderson, Van Zandt, Wood, and Rains Counties.
Michael Gardner
Director of Forensic MHMR Program, MHMR Tarrant County
Michael is the Director of Forensic Jail Services with MHMRTC. In his current role, he oversees the Tarrant County Jail mental health treatment program, Jail Based Competency Restoration, Youth Offender Diversion Alternative, Batterers Intervention Program, and the Diversion Navigator program. Serving in the jail for 23 years.
In total he has 30 years in the field working with those people who are justice involved , including bring employed as a Jailer, Youth Advocate, and Youth Case manager. In addition, he has over 20 years of providing Offender Education for those people on Probation or in Specialized Court Programs.
He holds two Master’s, Marriage and Family Counseling and Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has also been a Licensed Professional Counselor since 2005.
Javier Soto
Program Specialist for the Peer Support and Recovery Area at Texas Health and Human Services Commission
Javier Soto, serves as a Program Specialist for the Peer Support and Recovery Area.
Javier is a Recovery Support Peer Specialist (RSPS) and a Peer Specialist Supervisor (PSS). Before joining the Peer and Services Area, Javier worked at Communities for Recovery for 8 years as a Recovery Support Peer Specialist, Justice Involved Coordinator, and Recovery Support Services Manager. He provided training for the Recovery Support Peer Specialist, Peer Specialist Supervisor, Developing Excellence in Recovery Coaching, and Naloxone.
Javier is a person with lived experience from mental health and substance use recovery. He is originally from Laredo, Texas and moved to Austin in the summer of 2011. Javier graduated from Texas A&M International University with a BA in Psychology. He shares that the lovely staff from Williamson County DWI drug court saved his life and that he is a better son, brother, husband, father, friend, godfather, peer and human being because of his recovery.
Outside of work he enjoys running, boxing, strength training, sand volleyball, pickleball, softball, and spending time with his wife and 3 lovely daughters.
Jose Flores
Recovery Support Services Lead for the Texas Targeted Opioid Response at Texas Health and Human Services Commission
Jose N. Flores currently serves as the Recovery Support Services Lead for the Texas Targeted Opioid Response (TTOR) with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). TTOR is a public health initiative with a mission to save lives and provide life-long support to Texans with opioid and stimulant use disorders by expanding access to prevention, treatment, recovery, and integrated services.
Jose brings his own lived experience of recovery from substance use and mental health disorders, justice involvement, having worked for many years in a variety of treatment settings in the behavioral health field. He is also a bilingual Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor (LCDC), Internationally Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor (ICADC), Substance Abuse Professional (SAP), Internationally Certified Criminal Justice Addictions Professional (ICCJP), and Justice Involved-Reentry Peer Specialist (JI-RPS). As well as teaches court mandated education such as DWI Education and Intervention courses.
He is also a graduate of San Antonio College where he earned an A.A.S. in Human Services w/ a Specialization in Addictions Counseling, and the University of Texas A&M-San Antonio, where he earned a B.A.A.S in Social Sciences. He is currently working towards an M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling w/ a Latinx Concentration, at Seminary of the Southwest.
Marco Hinojos
Lieutenant, McClennan County Sheriff's Office
Lieutenant Hinojos has been employed with the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office since April of 2007. During his employment at the Sheriff’s Office he has helped train several officers, has been an SRT Team Leader, and most recently he has become a Master Jail Mental Health Officer. He has also been through several various training courses. Lieutenant Hinojos has taught Mental Health, De-escalation, and Suicide in The Basic County Corrections Course. Throughout his career he has dealt with a multitude of races, cultures, and religions as part of his jail duties in managing the jail population. He currently oversees the Mental health unit for the county and the programs within the jail.
Jason Davis
Sergeant, Brazos County Sheriff's Office
Jason Davis dedicated 27 years of distinguished service to the citizens of McLennan County, Texas, before retiring in July 2023. His career with the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office began in 1996, during which he earned both a Master Jailer License and a Master Peace Officer License through the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.
Throughout his tenure, Jason held a wide range of roles within the Sheriff’s Office, including jailer, patrol deputy, criminal investigator, and lieutenant in jail administration. He was a founding member of the Special Response Team and served as a D.A.R.E. officer. His leadership extended into critical incident response as a negotiator and team leader with the Crisis Response Team.
Jason is a graduate of the National Jail Leadership Command Academy (Class #32), a certified Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) instructor, and a certified Jail Mental Health Officer-Master Trainer. He also contributes to the development of future corrections professionals by instructing in the Jail Mental Health Officer Master Trainer course at Sam Houston State University.
His commitment to professional advancement includes serving four years as a Director on the Board of the Texas Jail Association. Following his retirement from McLennan County, Jason briefly served as a Complaint Inspector for the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. He now continues his service in public safety as a Sergeant in the Compliance Unit of the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office.
Jenna Stevens
Program Administrator for Substance Use Services, LifePath Systems
I started my career in the mental health/substance use field in 2010 and practice as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor (LCDC). I worked at Lakes Behavioral Health in Grayson County for 3 years as an outpatient substance use counselor and started with LifePath Systems in November 2016 as an OSAR counselor. In 2018, I transitioned into the Program Administrator for Outpatient substance use services and shortly after started overseeing all programs for substance use treatment. I work closely with the community entities such as probation and CPS and also the Collin County drug court programs serving as the treatment specialist for the DWI Misdemeanor court, the Family drug court and Felony drug court.
Nelda Cacciotti
Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney
Nelda Cacciotti is an Assistant District Attorney for the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office and is the Chief of the Mental Health Unit. She handles mental health related matters involving incompetency, insanity, civil commitment and jail diversion. She previously served 8 years as Judicial Staff Counsel/Mental Health Magistrate for the Tarrant County Criminal Courts, and presided over incompetency and insanity proceedings, outpatient and jail-based competency dockets as well as other mental health related matters.
She is a graduate of Texas Wesleyan University School of Law (now Texas A&M University School of Law) and of St. Edward’s University. She has been appointed as a Commissioner of the Texas Judicial Commission on Mental Health (JCMH) and prior to her appointment, she served on the JCMH Collaborative Council.
Additionally, she has served on several committees and workgroups related to justice-involved mentally ill and intellectually disabled individuals and presented on legal topics related to early identification of defendants suspected of having mental illness or intellectual disability and their release on personal bond, incompetency and insanity. She is a Fellow of the Tarrant County Bar Association and a Master member of the Eldon B. Mahon Inn of Court. She is also a recipient of the Judge Joe Spurlock II Alumna of the Year Award from Texas A&M University School of Law for her work and commitment to mental health issues affecting the criminal justice system.
Christy Rodriguez
Licensed Professional Counselor
Christy Rodriguez is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Texas. She graduated from the University of Houston in Victoria with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice in 2000 and again in 2018 with a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Christy is a member of the Texas Counseling Association and is a National Certified Counselor.
Christy currently works in private practice, providing counseling services to adults and children. Prior to this, she has worked in the public sector with individuals diagnosed with intellectual and developmental disabilities for a total of 27 years. She has worked in group homes, as a service coordinator, on crisis response teams, and provided clinical consultation for high level cases. Christy's passion is providing training and education for those serving dually diagnosed populations. Christy's husband is in law enforcement and they both raise two children together in Victoria.
Emily Eisenman
TCOOMMI Deputy Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Rehabilitation and Reentry Division
Emily Eisenman is currently working with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Rehabilitation and Reentry Division as the TCOOMMI Deputy Director overseeing program implementation for continuity of care planning with special needs offenders and the provision of reentry resources for any offender preparing to reenter the community. She studied criminal justice at the Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa; graduated from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado with a Bachelors of Arts in Sociology and Criminal Justice and earned her Masters of Science from Sam Houston University in Huntsville, Texas. Ms. Eisenman began her career in criminal justice at the Larimer County Sherriff’s Department as a Mental Health Councilor and Intake Specialist where a passion for working within corrections was discovered.
Tawnya Archer
TCOOMMI Manager, Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Rehabilitation and Reentry Division
Tawnya Archer is currently working with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Rehabilitation and Reentry Division as the TCOOMMI Manager overseeing community mental health contracts and specialized release planning services. She is dedicated to creating opportunities for justice involved individuals with special needs to find empowerment and independence. She graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Behavioral Science from West Texas A&M University. Ms Archer began her career with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice as a Correctional Officer and continues to represent the agency through her commitment to the population TDCJ serves.
