History

Alternative Behavior was founded by James W. Odom in April 2008. While employed by the City of Houston, James noticed a lack of programming for gang education in the communities surrounding Harris County. Organizations that pioneered the way for youth intervention had either lost funding, decreased services, or closed their doors entirely. Juveniles receiving tickets for gang-related offenses were not learning about the dangers of gangs and school administrators were voicing their desires for gang awareness training. After 11 months of managing the program on a part-time basis, James decided to resign from the city, and give Alternative Behavior his full attention.  

James W. Odom, Director

James is the Director and Founder of the Alternative Behavior program. Dedicated to helping high-risk youth, James has been working with some of Houston’s most active street gangs since 1996. Previously, he managed an intervention outreach team for the City of Houston, Mayor’s Anti-Gang Office, Gang Reduction Intervention Team. His responsibilities included; coordinating community education efforts, staff development, & incident response services for Houston area schools providing conflict resolution and violence prevention. 

James has served as a consultant to a number of school campuses in Harris County and is a certified mediator, alcohol education & tobacco awareness instructor through the Texas Department of State Health Services, Offender Education Program. James also writes a quarterly gang column in FRUIT magazine, a Christian publication for incarcerated youth.    

James has been asked to speak on both the local and national level presenting and training on the topic of gangs for organizations such as the National Youth Gang Center, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Lubbock County District Attorney's Office, Texas Gang Investigators Association, Texas Violent Gang Task Force, Houston Police Department, Harris County Juvenile Probation, Galveston County Juvenile Probation, Galveston County Criminal Defense Bar, United Way, Texas Network of Youth Services, and the National Guard Youth Foundation.

Services 

Court Ordered Workshops

Campus Intervention

Case Management

Mediation

Gang Education

Staff Training

Youth Gang Prevention

Partners

Cross in the City 

Communities In Schools

Harris County Juvenile Probation Dept.

TRIAD Prevention Program

Dare Mighty Things

Alief Independent School District

La Porte Independent School District

Pasadena Independent School District

Southmain Baptist Church

MeadowCrest Church

Precinct 3, Place 1

FRUIT Magazine

Staff

James W. Odom, Director

Naomi E. Odom, Administrator

Karla Sehnert, Interventionist

Roel Sonnen, Instructor

Charles Monroe, Instructor

Matthew Fulton, Instructor