JDAI Convenes in Nation's Capital
The nation's capital hosted nearly 500 juvenile detention reformers at the 17th annual JDAI Inter-site Conference in August.
With hope and change in the air, the normal menu of local site updates and workshops on JDAI fundamentals and promising practices expanded to include a spotlight on federal policy and legislation.
The conference agenda, publications and handouts, workshop descriptions and related PowerPoint presentations are posted on the JDAI Help Desk.
Reformers Seek National Partnership
Acutely aware of their Washington, D.C.-based audience, conference planners showcased the best and brightest in JDAI while also reminding participants that the federal government’s role as partner is both necessary and important.
"By bringing together federal, state and local policymakers under the same roof to have a frank discussion on the worst and best aspects of juvenile detention, the conference made crystal clear how influential and valuable a national partnership would be," said Mark Soler, executive director of the Center for Children’s Law and Policy.
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| The author and primary sponsor of the Youth PROMISE Act, U.S. Rep. Robert “Bobby” Scott of Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District, addressed a lunchtime plenary session. |
The author and primary sponsor of the Youth PROMISE Act, U.S. Rep. Robert "Bobby" Scott of Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District, addressed a lunchtime plenary session. The proposed legislation would increase federal assistance to states and localities for delinquency prevention. It was reported favorably out of subcommittee on October 30, 2009, and a vote by the U.S. House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee is expected.
Presenters at a workshop examining the status of the reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act suggested that reauthorization could remain on hold until an administrator is appointed to run the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Political insiders were guessing that an administrator could be installed by spring 2010.
Federal funding experts were on hand to untangle Medicaid's complexities and its potential to aid reform. Tom Swisstack, director of Bernalillo County Juvenile Detention and Youth Services in New Mexico, described the federally funded mental health facility the county developed to divert youth from secure care. Panel members acknowledged the scarcity of federal funds to support community-based programming.
The closing session examined steps federal policymakers might take to strengthen the juvenile justice system. JDAI stakeholders generally agreed that the federal government should expand funding and better use its leverage to expand JDAI and build a national infrastructure to support juvenile justice reform.
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| Members of the plenary panel that discussed the needs of Latino youth in the juvenile justice system: (l. to r.) Angela Arboleda, senior policy adviser, Office of the Senate Majority Leader; William Rivera, youth advocate; Marcia Rincon-Gallardo, Pima County JDAI/DMC site coordinator; Orlando Martinez, JDAI team leader; Raquel Mariscal, senior consultant and member of the JDAI management team; Juan Sanchez, president, Southwest Key Program; Francisco Villarruel, professor, Michigan State University. |
Conference Celebrates Depth and Breath of JDAI
The three-day meeting brought together juvenile justice practitioners from 110 JDAI sites for 54 workshops and six plenary sessions. The conference also served as an opportunity for counties and states to share and collaborate.
"As we return to our jurisdictions, we can become so isolated that we feel as though we are alone in our fight for juvenile justice reform," said Brian Huff, the family court presiding judge in Jefferson County, Alabama.
"Only at a JDAI conference can I discuss reduction in disproportionate minority contact with James Bell from the Burns Institute, plan for the creation of our new workgroup on LGBT youth with the Equity Project, listen to presentations from the likes of Shay Bilichik and Steve Teske, and hear Bart Lubow discuss his vision for the future of the Initiative."
To celebrate 20 years of work reforming detention practices nationwide, the Casey Foundation released a progress report, "Two Decades of JDAI: From Demonstration Project to National Standard." Download it here.
Bart Lubow, director of programs for high-risk youth at the Casey Foundation, explored the JDAI movement’s successes and challenges in his annual speech on the state of the initiative. Read it here.
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| A panel examining the key elements of a comprehensive sustainability strategy for JDAI featured (l. tor.) Bart Lubow of the Casey Foundation; Patti Vowell, New Mexico assistant state JDAI coordinator; and Michael Rohan, director of probation and court services in Cook County, Ill. |
JDAI Recognizes Contributions and Achievements
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| Dr. Barry Krisberg, president of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, earned recognition from the Casey Foundation for dedicating his life to improving the juvenile justice system. |
Each year JDAI honors individuals and organizations for their special achievements on behalf of the detention reform movement.
Dr. Barry Krisberg, who is retiring after 26 years as the president of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, earned recognition from the Casey Foundation for dedicating his life to improving the juvenile justice system. Lubow praised Dr. Krisberg’s tenacity and humor.
"Barry has done more to educate the public on the inequities in the system and the despicable conditions in the facilities than anyone I know,” he said. “His leadership and service to this community will be missed."
Southwest Key Programs received the 2009 Gloria J. Jenkins Award for Outstanding Contributions to Juvenile Detention Reform by a Community Organization.
The award is named for a long-time leader of the Westside Association for Community Action in Chicago, Ill. Until her death in 2006, Gloria epitomized the powerful efforts routinely made by often unheralded community organizations and community activists.
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| Southwest Key Programs received the 2009 Gloria J. Jenkins Award for Outstanding Contributions to Juvenile Detention Reform by a Community Organization. Juan Sanchez, Southwest Key's president and chief executive officer, accepted the award on their behalf. Sanchez (right) is pictured with James Bell, executive director of the W. Hayward Burns Institute. |
Southwest Key was founded by Dr. Juan Sanchez in 1987 and is the fourth-largest Latino nonprofit in the country. Because of its work, thousands of youth have been diverted from secure incarceration and institutions. Southwest Key has also reunited thousands of immigrant children with their families and provided these unaccompanied minors with 24-hour care and education.
The organization has refined its model of culturally relevant education by operating alternative schools throughout Texas, preventing hundreds of youth from dropping out of school. The group’s innovative educational model was fully realized this year with the opening of its charter middle school, the East Austin College Prep Academy.
Raquel Mariscal, a senior consultant and member of the JDAI management team, praised Southwest Key for "keeping close to their hearts the value y esfuerza of cultura, familia y comunidad" and for "providing life-changing opportunities to youth and their families."
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| The Natalie Bimel Award for Outstanding Contributions to Juvenile Detention Reform by a Community Leader was presented to Clarence Boykins, president and CEO of the Tucson-Southern Arizona Black Chamber of Commerce. |
The Natalie Bimel Award for Outstanding Contributions to Juvenile Detention Reform by a Community Leader was presented to Clarence Boykins, president and CEO of the Tucson-Southern Arizona Black Chamber of Commerce. He was recognized in particular for his role in supporting community participation in detention and equity reform in Pima County (Tucson), Arizona.
Five years ago Boykins, then president of the Arizona NAACP, organized a regional conference on inequities in the criminal justice system. Months later he joined the executive committee of the new JDAI site in Pima County, coordinating a community forum on African-American youth in the juvenile justice system. Last year he was appointed to co-chair the committee.
As a liaison he represents the needs of the community at JDAI meetings and explores all opportunities to foster community dialogues about Pima County’s detention and equity reform efforts.
"For his nimble approach to the healthy tensions inherent in meaningful engagement with juvenile justice system partners; for providing a voice to our youth and families of color … for all these reasons and more we honor a genuine community leader who has made an exemplary contribution to detention and equity reform,” Mariscal said.
The award is a memorial to Natalie Bimel. For three decades until her death in 2002, Natalie was a criminal justice reformer. In addition to directing the JDAI documentary “These are Our Kids,” she established a number of highly regarded community programs that served to reduce reliance on incarceration and to help former prisoners successfully transition to community life.
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