JUVENILE JUSTICE | 47th Annual Training Institute

Breaking the Rules: Rethinking Condition Setting and Enforcement in Juvenile Probation

The American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) is pleased to announce a special, one-day Juvenile Justice Forum entitled “Breaking the Rules” to take place on Monday, August 29, 2022 at the APPA 47th Annual Training Institute. The goal of the Juvenile Justice Forum is to motivate and guide probation staff, managers, judges, and other juvenile justice stakeholders across the country to rethink and reform their approaches to juvenile probation condition setting and enforcement.

During the one-day forum, participants will attend discussion-based, action-oriented workshops with national experts and leading juvenile probation practitioners to explore:

How and why traditional approaches to condition setting and enforcement are ineffective at promoting positive youth behavior change, accountability, and system equity.
Strategies and lessons learned from jurisdictions on condition setting and enforcement improvement approaches that support both public safety and improved youth outcomes.
Resources and tools available to support leadership and line staff to engage in reform initiatives.

The forum will include an opening plenary session and four 75-minute workshops. During each session, participants will have structured time, on their own or with their colleagues, to develop a reform plan for their own jurisdiction, with consulting and coaching support from forum staff and practitioner participants. The forum will include an informal networking session for participants that provides further opportunities for peer-to-peer learning.

After the forum, participant feedback from the workshops will support a national resolution from APPA and partners on the appropriate role and form of probation conditions and graduated responses in juvenile probation and court best practices.

In addition, two jurisdictions that participate in the forum will have the opportunity to competitively apply and be selected to receive intensive technical assistance from the CSG Justice Center to assess and improve their probation policies and practices.

Participation in the forum comes at no extra cost for registered in-person attendees of APPA’s 47th Annual Training Institute in Chicago on August 28-31. However, registration for the Juvenile Justice Forum is required to attend. Space is limited. To register, visit the 47th Annual Training Institute and select Online Registration. Under “Optional Event Fees”, select “Juvenile Justice Forum.”

The forum is hosted by the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center in partnership with APPA, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Arnold Ventures.

Council of State Governments - Justice Center

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

PLENARY PANEL

Elijah Norris-Holliday

Elijah Norris-Holliday serves as the founder and CEO of Project Restore Minnesota, a private nonprofit social enterprise serving adults ages 18-24 in the Twin Cities. His organization dedicates resources to empowering, developing, and advancing American Descendants of Slavery (ADOS) young adults and those impacted by the criminal justice system. He and his team provide a host of services, from professional development training, personal development workshops, job connection, mentorship, and wrap-around support to the Twin Cities. Mr. Norris_Holliday prioritizes forming strategic partnerships with employers, community-based organizations, government entities, and the community to accomplish common goals and objectives. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Winona State University in Public Administration with a minor in Political Science and a Master of Arts degree in Public Administration specializing in public budgeting and finance from Minnesota State University Mankato.

Scott MacDonald

Scott MacDonald is the president of Justsolve and consults in the areas of juvenile and criminal justice reform. He is a retired Chief Probation Officer from Santa Cruz County, California, and has over 39 years of experience in adult and juvenile probation. He works closely with the Annie E. Casey Foundation on the implementation of juvenile justice reforms to transform probation and reduce incarceration and out-of-home placement. MacDonald also consults on adult probation reform and worked with California Forward. He conducted jail analyses to develop and implement the Justice System Change Initiative, which focuses on criminal justice reform and changes to adult probation. He holds a Master of Science Degree in Administration of Justice from San Jose State University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from the University of California - Santa Cruz. MacDonald has lectured nationally and has taught at San Jose State University and the University of California at Santa Cruz in juvenile and criminal justice reform.

Ana M. Bermúdez

Ana M. Bermúdez is the NYC Department of Probation’s (DOP’s) first openly gay commissioner, the first Latina, and the second woman appointed to that position. A graduate of Brown University and Yale Law School, Commissioner Bermúdez began her professional career representing children in family court cases at the Legal Aid Society. For over 20 years, she has been a tireless advocate for children and teenagers involved in the justice system by developing and implementing strengths-based interventions, applying restorative and youth development practices, and designing programs that ensure successful re-integration for adjudicated juveniles. As DOP’s Deputy Commissioner of Juvenile Operations (2010 – 2014), she successfully led city-wide initiatives that focused on improving outcomes for court-involved youth. Appointed to Commissioner in March 2014, she continues to lead with a mission to enhance public safety through appropriate and individualized, community-based interventions in people's lives on probation. Before joining the DOP in 2010, she was Director of Juvenile Justice Programs at the Children’s Aid Society. She has also worked at The Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services, holding positions of Director of Training and Technical Assistance; Co-Director of Community Prep High School; and Deputy Director for Court Services and Case Management.

Stephen Bishop

Stephen Bishop is associate director for probation and system transformation at the Annie E. Casey Foundation and part of the leadership team of its Juvenile Justice Strategy Group and Center for Systems Innovation. Bishop leads the Foundation’s investments and initiatives for youth justice system and community partners to ensure that young people exposed to the legal system can realize their potential, even when they make mistakes and violate the law in serious ways. Bishop’s portfolio includes leading Casey’s efforts to transform youth probation, end the youth prison model and reduce inappropriate and unnecessary use of secure detention. Bishop started his career in youth justice as a juvenile probation officer and supervisor in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, followed by more than a decade leading statewide training, technical assistance, and research programs at the Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission. The governor of Pennsylvania appointed him to the state’s Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Committee and the PennSERVE Advisory Board. He is the chair of the state’s Juvenile Racial and Ethnic Disparities Committee and a past president of the Pennsylvania Association on Probation, Parole, and Corrections. Bishop has a Master of Science in Administration of Justice. 

Agenda

Workshops

Plenary Session: Rethinking Community Supervision through Lessons Learned in Juvenile Probation Reform

Much is said in the literature about the adolescent brain, adolescent development and how youth are different than adults. While this is true, not enough is said about the applicability of juvenile probation and justice reforms to the adult criminal justice system. This plenary will discuss the principles of behavior change, rethinking accountability and challenge traditional methods of holding justice involved individuals accountable, and elevate equity as an essential component to reform and community supervision. In this plenary probation leaders and thought partners will share relevant lessons learned from juvenile justice reform of these three key components, and the applicability of those principles to criminal justice reform with an emphasis on the role of the probation officer in community supervision.

Workshop 1: Rethinking Conditions: Positive Youth Behavior Change

Participants will review and discuss how standard probation conditions can hinder positive youth behavior change, and how/why probation agencies should focus on alternative, research-based principles and tools for achieving this goal, including best practice examples.

Workshop 2: Rethinking Conditions: What Accountability Really Means

Participants will review and discuss the role of “accountability” in probation practice, how more collaborative approaches to accountability and restorative justice might look, and how jurisdictions have redefined and promoted improved approaches in their systems.

Workshop 3: Rethinking Conditions: The Myth of Standardization and Impact on System Equity

Participants will review and discuss the challenge of implementing standardized conditions, how conditions can perpetuate system inequities, and what a more individualized, culturally competent approach to condition setting and enforcement should entail.

Workshop 4: Reforming Probation Conditions and Responses: Options, Opportunities, and Resources

Participants will review and discuss research-based reform approaches and lessons learned from jurisdictions that have engaged in this work to formalize action plans for reform in their own locales. In addition, participants will learn about resources, tools, training, and technical assistance opportunities available to support their probation condition reform efforts.

Networking Session

Forum participants will have the opportunity for informally network over lunch with forum staff, participants, and their peers to continue to motivate and support their reform efforts when they return home from the APPA 47th Annual Training Institute.

Monday, Aug 29, 2022

08:00 AM CT

Workshop #1

09:30 AM CT

Workshop #2

10:45 AM CT

Plenary: Rethinking Community Supervision through Lessons Learned in Juvenile Probation Reform

12:30 PM CT

Networking Lunch

02:15 PM CT

Workshop #3

03:45 PM CT

Workshop #4

05:00 PM CT

Reception in Expo Hall

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Juvenile Justice Forum

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