Recently, The Corrections Connection talked with Thomas Buzbee, Executive Director of the Gulf Coast Trades Center, a juvenile detention facility, near Houston, Texas.  Buzbee has worked at the Center since it opened in 1971 and has dedicated over 30 years of his life to helping juveniles there.  He shared with CCNN his path to the juvenile justice field.

Q: How did you become involved in juvenile corrections?

Buzbee: It's kind of a personal story.  My dad died when I was 12 and I came from a similar background as these kids did.  I grew up in a [public] housing area: the projects.  My mother had a good education but it was still similar in that I knew a lot of the street stuff.  Of course, I went on to school, but I could have gone down the same path that these kids did.  I had a lot of guidance from my family.  I have a lot of empathy for these types of kids.

My mother worked for the labor movement so I was able to go to work for unions and make money that allowed me to go to college.  In the summer, I shipped out on merchant ships.  Occasionally I'd have to stay out of school until I had enough money to go back.  I enjoyed seeing the world, but my mother made sure I went back to school.  I finally got my degree in political science from the University of Houston.  I did a year and a half of law school, but then dropped out and went to work for the labor movement as an organizer for 10 years.  I was married and I was gone a lot, so I decided in 1971 that it was time for me to move on. 

The Gulf Coast Building Trades Council was sponsoring the Gulf Coast Trades Center and they needed someone to work there and represent the unions.  The agreement was that the director would come from corrections and the deputy would come from the labor movement.  I had a college degree and a background with the labor movement and I liked working with kids.  I came up and got the job.  As deputy, I was in charge of the day-to-day operations.  I dealt with the personnel and the unions.  I pretty well could deal with people.

Q: How did you become the Executive Director of the Center?

Buzbee: We were trying to survive.  In 1975, we were struggling to maintain the Center.  The director at that time was having problems with the union boards and decided to leave.  Our grant was running out.  We had $500 in the bank, that's it.  The [land] permit we had with the U.S. Forest Service was getting taken away.  In October of 1975 we had to send the kids home.

I sat down with someone from the Mayor's Office who helped to get the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor involved.  We sat down with the board members on the corrections side who were leery of unions.  They didn't know if I could do it and I didn't know whether or not I wanted to do it and have all the headaches.  At that time the Texas Youth Council was having problems and [it was] mandated by a judge to reform.  They decided to contract some of the services out, so we negotiated a contract with the Texas Youth Commission in 1976.

I decided to try it.  We started pulling the pieces together.  We got a little bit here, a little bit there.  As you get kids we'll phase it up.  It was nip and tuck.  We didn't have any money.  We had to scrounge. 

We persevered.  Maybe we were crazy.  Maybe I'm stubborn because I'm Irish.  [But], we were determined to take them on.

It was during the Carter administration.  Nobody wanted to deal with youthful offenders.  The U.S. Department of Labor took a chance and gave us a contract and we went statewide.

We were selected in 1978 as one of the five best youth programs in the country.  By that time we were off.  We were becoming stable and being accepted.

Q: What keeps you going?

Buzbee: I'm addicted to it by now.  It's been a labor of love.  You don't become a millionaire working for a non-profit, but I love what I do.  I'm 65.

Q: What do you see for your future?

Buzbee: We started another spin-off program.  Six of our trades are construction-related.  These kids are visual and they are hands-on learners.  We wanted to get them in the house-building business, [so we did with a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant].  We [have] built 13 houses and we are [planning] to build 15. 

I'm backing out from the day-to-day stuff, which I need to do [for health reasons].  We're developing an endowment so we don't have to rely on state and federal funds.  Our goal is to raise $10 million in the next five years.

I need to train someone to succeed me.  I want someone to fill that void.  [But], if they need me, I'll be there.  I can consult with them. 

Q: What are you thankful for?

Buzbee: [It's a] good thing I had an understanding wife.  Somebody else would have divorced me by now.