Session 1: Reducing Racial Disparities in Juvenile Detention with Effective and Innovative Alternatives to Detention

Wednesday, July 22^nd  12:00 p.m.– 1:00 p.m.  (CDT)

This conference is FREE to all individuals who work with young people and families in the Juvenile Justice System. Please download the NJJA Mobile App to register for this free virtual conference. If you have any questions about registration or the NJJA App – email ChristyBeckman@outlook.com

Click here to download a PDF of this information.

Click here for a recording of the session.

Click here for the slides presented during the session. Douglas County Opening Webinar PP-(FINAL)

Alternatives to Detention (ATD): why culture matters, targeting intervention for specific populations and building a continuum

Wednesday, August 26, 2020, 12pm-1pm (CDT)

Nebraska ATD RED Presentation Slides no video

Webinar Recording

Presenters:

Cody W. Jewell HE/HIM/HIS-Is a Project Coordinator for Pierce County Juvenile Court in Tacoma Washington. Cody received his Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and History from Washington State University in 2008 and has been working with incarcerated youth since 2009.  He started at a state facility in Washington, working with youth who had been removed from their communities for placement.  He transitioned to Pierce County Juvenile Court in 2014 and began working as a probation counselor.  For the past three years he has been the local JDAI site coordinator and has been focused on implementing Deep End and Probation Transformation reforms.  Building up community program opportunities and working to reduce the number of youths who receive an out of home placement, with a goal of keeping all youth close to home for their programming needs.  Cody has also been a member of the PCJC equity team for three years and works on the learning opportunities subgroup.

Carrie Ojeda-Is a Juvenile Probation Counselor for Pierce County Juvenile Court in Tacoma, Washington. Carrie supervises up to 10 African American youth who are a part of the Pathways to Success program. She received her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice with a minor is Psychology and Sociology at Eastern Washington University in 2013. She started her journey working with youth in 2014 when she worked at Child Study and Treatment Center as a Psychiatric Counselor, working with youth who were involuntarily placed. Carrie then moved on to work for the court in 2017 as a Probation Counselor. She has been working specifically with African American youth since February 2019. She also is an active member in the PCJC equity team and works on the learning opportunities subgroup to help provide education and training to the organization.

Areas of Interest

• Juvenile Probation
• Probation transformation
• Racial/Ethnic Disparities

Purpose:

The Alternatives to Detention Webinar is part of a larger series of events under the Racial/Ethnic Disparities Sub-committee of Douglas County, Nebraska. This event will be put on by the Alternatives to Detention sub-committee in collaboration with our RED team. In this webinar, the audience will be educated on the journey of Tacoma Washington as they worked to change the culture of their jurisdiction to allow for reform. We will also learn about the Pathways to Success program created specifically for African American youth. This program serves youth who are considered a high risk to reoffend.  They will share data from this alternative to detention that is aimed at reducing RED and is showing positive outcomes. The webinar will assist the audience in understanding how changing the culture of jurisdictions to allow for reform as well as understanding how to use data to create strategies. Presenters will also share the robust ATD continuum being used in Tacoma to assist officers in understanding what alternatives are available.

Alternatives to Detention (ATD): Multi-Agency Resource Centers (Assessment Centers)

September 23, 2020,  Noon to 1 pm CDT

Presenter:

Anthony Celestine

Anthony Celestine is the Assistant Director of the Calcasieu Parish Office of Juvenile Services. Their mission is to provide quality rehabilitative services to youth and families in a manner that is responsive to their needs, while always being mindful of public safety.  Anthony strives to find solutions to make certain that every child in Calcasieu Parish lives a happy, healthy and successful life.

Anthony has been a part of the Parish Police Jury for more than 25 years. A past detention center director, training and special projects coordinator, and Juvenile Probation Officer. Anthony is also a member of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING:

-Annie E Casey Applied Leadership Network

-McNeese State University: Bachelor of Applied Science in Criminal Justice/Safety Studies

-Leadership Track Training

-Crisis Prevention Intervention

Areas of Interest

• Racial/Ethnic Disparities
• Juvenile Probation
• Culturally responsive service

Purpose:

The Alternatives to Detention Webinar is part of a larger series of events under the Racial/Ethnic Disparities Sub-committee of Douglas County, Nebraska. This event will be put on by the Alternatives to Detention sub-committee in collaboration with our RED team. In this webinar, the audience will hear about the Multi-Agency Resource Center (MARC) in Calcasieu Parish Louisiana.  The MARC has served over 11k youth since June of 2011, diverting 82% (27% did not enter any system at all).  Absenteeism has been reduced by 26% with their school based diversion.  All of this with only 13 Staff members.  The MARC is a single point of entry into the Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice and Prevention systems.  It operates as a community center and allow for outside groups to hold meetings on site with families.  Staff can also work in family homes if needed.  There are 3 ways to obtain service: 1- Walk in: families in crisis or any need can simply walk into the MARC and meet with someone 7 days a week. Staff can complete JIFF and MAYSI-2 when needed.  They have a crisis team able to respond if needed. 2- County Attorney: when youth is not appropriate for Court intervention, they are referred for MARC diversion services.  3-Law Enforcement (LE): LE can use MARC to request diversion services for youth with non-violent offenses.  The MARC, in turn, contacts the County Attorney to consider.  The MARC does house ATD providers to allow for immediate service.  The MARC also employees two Expeditors, once for pre-adjudicated and post-adjudicated, court involved youth.  MARC holds non-traditional hours to allow for more efficient case processing and service delivery.  The have developed both Pre-Court Diversion and Restorative Justice programming; they are using less funds as a result.  MARC emphasizes use of BOTH evidenced AND Faith based services. Attention to continuous improvement and staff training assist in keeping staff motivated and the work innovative.

Target audience: The ATD training is geared to educate all front line staff in the State of Nebraska and community stakeholders.  The training will be open to all stakeholders around the State. This is possible due to collaboration with the Nebraska Juvenile Justice Association