In many jurisdictions, it is common practice for youth who commit a serious offense to be confined instead of receiving services in the community, even though these youth are the most in need of these services. In this episode, our host speaks with Judge Sheila Calloway and Chief of Juvenile Probation Kelly Gray from Nashville, Tennessee about their strategies for using probation as a response to youth that commit serious offenses. They also offer stories of young people that have thrived as a part of their probation program.

For a tool that youth confinement decision makers can use to keep youth confinement numbers low, download the Checklist for Juvenile Confinement Decisions During and After COVID-19.

Judge Sheila Calloway has been serving on the bench of the Juvenile Court of Metropolitan Nashville & Davidson County Tennessee since 2004. She started off as an appointed magistrate, after working at the Metro Public Defender’s Office in both the adult system as well as the juvenile system, and in 2014 she became the elected judge. For several years, Judge Calloway has been leading her county’s juvenile justice reform activities, especially around probation transformation. She regularly speaks on juvenile justice reforms at national and state conferences.

Kelly Gray, a Nashville native, started her career at Davidson County Juvenile Court in 2006 as a probation officer. In 2010 she became Probation Officer Supervisor for the mental health unit, and in 2012, Kelly became the supervisor of the gang and high-risk unit for probation. In her role as gang unit supervisor, she was instrumental in the development of the first youth gang court known as GRIP – Gang Resistance Intervention Program. In 2019 she was appointed to chief of probation by Judge Sheila Calloway of the Davidson County Juvenile Court. In this position she oversees three teams of probation officers known as the Support, Intervention, and Accountability teams (SIA).

The post Keep The Numbers Low: Reducing Youth Confinement in the Wake of COVID-19: Using Probation as a Response for Youth who Commit Serious Offenses appeared first on NCJFCJ.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, juvenile justice administrators had to quickly pivot to practices that mitigated the spread of COVID-19 while serving youth as best as possible. In this episode, our host has a conversation with Michael Dempsey from the Council of Juvenile Justice Administrators (CJJA) and Brett Peterson from the Utah Division of Juvenile Justice Services about leading during this crisis and how they have worked to decrease the use of youth confinement.

For a tool that youth confinement decisionmakers can use to keep youth confinement numbers low, download the Checklist for Juvenile Confinement Decisions During and After COVID-19.

Michael Dempsey is the Executive Director of the Council of Juvenile Justice Administrators (CJJA). Prior to joining CJJA, Michael served as Executive Director of the Indiana Department of Corrections, Division of Youth Services (DYS) from 2009 to 2015.   He began his work with the Indiana Department of Corrections as Superintendent of the Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility in June 2006. Prior to moving to Indiana, he served as the Superintendent of the Kansas Juvenile Correctional Complex for approximately two and a half years. Mike has held positions as a Correctional Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain and Major. He has also held positions as Correctional Training Officer, Internal Affairs Investigator, Assistant Superintendent and Associate Superintendent.

Brett Peterson is the Director of Juvenile Justice Services. He is responsible for the operation and management of the continuum of care including early intervention, shelter, detention and long- term secure settings. As Director, Brett is committed to reducing the need for out-of-home placements, correlating the services provided with the leading research related to adolescent brain development and ongoing implementation of significant juvenile justice reforms.

Resources: Resolution Regarding Standards for the Secure Care of Youth, Judicial Leadership For Community-Based Alternatives To Juvenile Secure Confinement, The Role Of The Judge In Transforming Juvenile Probation: A Toolkit for Leadership, The Impact of COVID-19 on Juvenile Justice Systems: Practice Changes, Lessons Learned, and Future Considerations

The post Keep The Numbers Low: Reducing Youth Confinement in the Wake of COVID-19: Straight Talk About Youth Incarceration appeared first on NCJFCJ.

In 2020 and the following years, the COVID-19 pandemic changed how jurisdictions responded to delinquency, which affected the use of youth confinement. In this episode, our host speaks with Tom Woods from the Annie E. Casey Foundation about their survey to track the youth detention population and what he has learned from jurisdictions around the country through the results.

For a tool that youth confinement decisionmakers can use to keep youth confinement numbers low, download the Checklist for Juvenile Confinement Decisions During and After COVID-19.

Tom Woods is a Senior Associate in the Juvenile Justice Strategy Group (JJSG) at the Annie E Casey Foundation. His current responsibilities include direction of JJSG data initiatives including the Monthly Detention Survey; providing technical assistance for sites in the practices of data-driven decision making; and supporting work across the foundation related to juvenile justice research. While at Casey, Tom has worked with state and local jurisdictions in more than two dozen states on both child welfare and juvenile justice initiatives, and led Casey’s support for juvenile justice transformation in Virginia from 2014 to 2019.

Resources: Annie E. Casey Foundation Juvenile Justice Strategies, Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Youth Detention Survey During COVID-19

The post Keep The Numbers Low: Reducing Youth Confinement in the Wake of COVID-19: Youth Detention Trends During and After COVID-19 appeared first on NCJFCJ.

In 2019, Colorado passed SB 19-108, which included new provisions restricting the use of detention, requiring detention screening and detention screening teams, and changes in detention hearings. In this episode, our host speaks with Magistrate Lisa Gomez from Denver, Colorado about the new statute and what it means for her jurisdiction and the youth that they serve.

For a tool that youth confinement decisionmakers can use to keep youth confinement numbers low, download the Checklist for Juvenile Confinement Decisions During and After COVID-19.

Magistrate Gomez graduated with a degree in criminal justice from Metropolitan State University of Denver.  She attended law school at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.  After working as a guardian ad litem and respondent parent counsel for Denver County, she joined the bench as a Denver Juvenile Court Magistrate in 2015.  Magistrate Gomez is the presiding Magistrate over both the Youth and Family Treatment Court as well as Denver’s Juvenile Handgun Intervention Program, creating pathways through community partnerships for high risk and high need kids to develop and find success outside of Justice involvement.

The post Keep The Numbers Low: Reducing Youth Confinement in the Wake of COVID-19: One State’s Journey to Limit Youth Confinement appeared first on NCJFCJ.