Community Engagement

How do you bankrupt a brimming system of incarceration that is perversely incentivized to grow? According to New Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman, “you have to go to the source, and whether the source is education or whether it’s legislation, you really have to go to the source.” Gusman provided an upstream suggestion at the Loyola University New Orleans’ event, Louisiana Incarcerated: An Evening with Cindy Chang on June 26, 2012. However, many of the panelists pointed specifically to job training and employment as essential parts of the solution.
The event was centered around an acclaimed 8-part Times-Picayune series titled “Louisiana Incarcerated,” by reporter Cindy Chang. For the series, Chang talked with the formerly incarcerated and criminal justice reformers to get a complete story of the juvenile and criminal justice systems. The town hall styled symposium provided opportunities for panelists to offer their thoughts on the sources of Louisiana’s incarceration problems as well as potential solutions.
Concurring with Gusman’s perspective of root causes, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana Jim Letten said, “the most important part of our jobs is education and prevention. I wouldn’t have told you that 13 years ago.” Letten iterated what several panelists expressed during the panel sessions, which took place over the course of two hours.

Over in The Atlantic Cities, Richard R. Buery Jr. of the Children's Aid Society has a very compelling piece about the importance of community-based rehabilitation centers in working with troubled youth.  
He explains:

Engaging the local community is vital to the rehabilitation process. For young offenders, receiving supportive services in their home communities, where they can remain connected to families and local institutions, offers the most reliable path for ensuring that they do not grow up to become lifelong criminals. For most children convicted of minor infractions, effective services can be provided while they live at home, avoiding the costs and negative impact of institutionalization. Yet for the past few decades we have failed troubled youth--the vast majority of them black and Latino (84 percent of all admissions in 2009) - by shipping them to juvenile detention facilities hundreds of miles away from home, often for minor infractions.
Cutting these children off from their communities threatens their often fragile family relationships. Worse, young people don't learn to become responsible adults at these facilities--on the contrary, they are often neglected and face abuse. And despite how ineffective and unsafe these facilities are, the city and state spend millions of dollars a year to keep them running. Compared to the alternative, the waste is astonishing. Holding a youth offender in a secure facility costs around $260,000 a year; alternative, community-based treatment programs can cost about $20,000 per child per year, and have better results.

On the third Thursday of each month, the Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) hosts free iTrainings surrounding various topics affecting the addictions treatment and recovery services fields. This month's iTraining is "Adolescent Care Management--An Emerging Health Care Reform Priority".
Training info:
Thursday, June 21, 2012
2:00-3:30 pm Eastern
Hosted by: David Jefferson, MSW, Northwest Frontier ATTC 
Dept of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University

The Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University‘s Public Policy Institute, in partnership with the Juvenile Law Center, has announced its inaugural Information Sharing Certificate Program. This program, supported with funding from the MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change Initiative, is designed to enable leaders in the juvenile justice, child welfare, education, behavioral health and other child serving fields to overcome information sharing challenges that prevent the communication and coordination that is necessary to more fully serve youth known across multiple systems of care. Upon completion of the intensive three-day learning experience, participants apply the knowledge they gain through the development and implementation of a Capstone Project—an action agenda they undertake in their organization/community to initiate or enhance information sharing efforts. To accelerate these efforts, it is strongly encouraged that those interested in attending form a team from their jurisdiction to apply to the program.
Faculty for the program is comprised of information sharing, juvenile justice and child welfare subject matter experts from across the country who will deliver a curriculum designed to increase participants' ability to solve real-life problems when they return home. Thanks to the MacArthur Foundation, tuition subsidies are available for those with financial need.

Information Sharing Certificate Program
October 1-4, 2012
Washington, DC
Application Deadline: June 28, 2012

Those working with "crossover youth" in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems should consider applying for the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform's Certificate Programs in Multi-System Integration. These week-long programs are designed to cover a variety of issues impacting crossover youth and multi-system reform to prepare leaders to undertake a wide-range of reforms in their community.
The programs are targeted at public and private sector leaders working in the juvenile justice, child welfare, judiciary, behavioral health, education and other systems that serve crossover youth. The programs utilize a multi-systems and multi-disciplinary approach in focusing on policies, programs and practices that improve outcomes for this population. Upon completion of the week-long program, participants apply the knowledge they gain via a Capstone Project—a reform agenda they implement in their organization/ community to make a positive impact on the lives of crossover youth. In order to enhance the possibility of implementing cross systems change after returning from the program, applicants from the same jurisdiction are encouraged to apply as “mini-teams.”
Certificate Program for Public Sector Leaders
July 6-13, 2012 (applications due by March 22, 2012)
October 10-17, 2012 (priority application deadline is March 22, 2012)
Certificate Program for Private Sector Leaders
November 7-14, 2012 (applications due by July 17, 2012)
This is a great opportunity to hone your skills, network with current and future leaders in the field and improve the operation of your organization.

Youth behind bars often find the holidays to be an especially lonely time, as they are away from friends and family members. A non-profit in Washington, DC is collecting books to give to incarcerated teens in adult prisons.
Free Minds Book Club uses creative writing and books to help teens in the juvenile justice system turn their lives around.
Check out this clip on the book drive and one teen's success with the program:

The workshop, titled A Toolkit for Strength-Based Recovery Networks: Engaging and Activating the Positive with Diverse Young People, Families and Communities, takes place Nov. 17, 2011 from 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. EST at Everett Station (Weyerhaeuser Room) -- 3201 Smith Ave. Everett, WA 98201.
Reclaiming Futures founder and former national director Dr. Laura Nissen will host the no-cost training.
This event is only two weeks away and registration spots are filling up fast. Attendees must register no later than Nov. 10. 
Email Sarah Jackson (Sarah.Hoff-Jackson@co.snohomish.wa.us) or call (425) 388-7813 to request a registration form.
Check out the the event flier after the break:

• Webinar on Disproportionate Minority Contact
  The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s National Training and Technical Assistance Center will host the webinar, “Disproportionate Minority Contact: Issues and Trends at the National, State, and Local Level,” on August 3, 2011 at 2 p.m. (EDT). The webinar will describe the issues that state and local communities face when trying to reduce disproportionate minority contact.  
• Department of Justice: Licensed Growers, Dispensers of Medical Marijuana Could Be Prosecuted
  A new policy memo issued by Deputy Attorney General James Cole says state law is no protection for growers and dispensers of medical marijuana. However, the Justice Department stands by its 2009 directive against investigating patients and caregivers in compliance with state law.

The Third National Conference on Restorative Justice will be held in Raleigh, North Carolina, June 8-10, 2011. (Apologies for the short lead-time; I just heard about this from Paul Savery.) 
The agenda's full of all kinds of fascinating presentations and workshops -- so many, it has my head spinning. Even better, a surprisingly large number have to do with working with teens, juvenile justice, and the schools.
Here's just two that jumped out at me (I quote from the agenda):

Background: On May 18 and 19, 2011, Reclaiming Futures hosted its biannual Leadership Institute for its participating sites. Held in Miami this year, the Institute featured presentations from leaders in the fields of youth work and juvenile justice. 

About This Archived Webcast: On Thursday, May 19, Dr. Gordon Bazemore, a leading expert in restorative justice and juvenile justice, gave a three-part presentation on youth development, restorative justice, and social capital and "restorative decision-making." >>Download the presentation slides.