This newsletter reports on recent activities, events, and topics sponsored by and related to the mission of the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
At the "Blueprints Conference" in Denver, CO, OJJDP Administrator Robert L. Listenbee presented the keynote presentation, which emphasized the importance of evidence-based policies, programs, and practices in juvenile justice reform. A special feature focuses on April 2014 as Child Abuse Prevention Month, which focuses on raising public awareness about the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of children, as well as the importance of families and communities working together to prevent maltreatment. Another feature article reviews the major points made by OJJDP Administrator Robert Listenbee at the annual conference of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (March 4, 2014) as he cited trauma-informed care as a key component in juvenile justice reform. A third special feature focuses on the third public hearing of the Task Force on American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence (April 16 and 17, 2014). The hearing addressed Tribal children's exposure to violence in the community as well as promising approaches for addressing this problem. A fourth special feature discusses the Justice Department's announcement of the creation of the National Center for Building Community Trust and Justice grant initiative, which will seek five sites that will implement and test strategies for improving procedural justice, reducing implicit bias, and supporting racial reconciliation in communities of color. This initiative will involve collaboration between the OJJDP and the Justice Department's Office of Community Oriented Policing. Other special features pertain to OJJDP's holding of a listening session on racial and ethnic disparities as well as "Upcoming Events." "News in Brief" covers other OJJDP events, new publications, and the activities of the Coordinating Council.