As Prepared for Delivery
Thank you for that introduction, Liz [Ryan], and good afternoon, everyone. It’s wonderful to be with you all today. I want to thank Liz for her leadership, both as Administrator of our Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and as Vice-Chair of the council. She is deeply committed to this council’s work and is such a strong voice for the youth of our country.
Liz and I have known each other for 15 years, and I cannot think of anyone who’s been a fiercer advocate for our nation’s children, and for a more fair and effective juvenile justice system, than Liz.
I’d like to take just a moment and recognize that this year is the 50th anniversary of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, which created OJJDP and the coordinating council. This council is building on the momentum of 50 years of work led by OJJDP, in concert with its federal partners and juvenile justice leaders across the country. Congratulations to Liz and her team on an anniversary that marks a half century of serving some of our nation’s most vulnerable young people.
Thank you also to our friends with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and AmeriCorps for being here today. You are our teammates in this work, and we are excited to continue building positive momentum together.
It’s heartening to see so many different perspectives represented around this table and to know everyone in this room is dedicated to improving the lives of young people.
This work is near and dear to my heart, and since this is my first coordinating council meeting as Acting Assistant Attorney General, I thought I’d share a bit of my background specific to working with this population.
Before my time in D.C., I served as the Director of Legislative and Government Affairs for the New York City Department of Probation. There, I had a chance to work on some landmark reforms, including the Close to Home Initiative, which realigned the back end of the juvenile justice system (e.g., out-of-home placement) from the state to the city, while significantly expanding community-based intervention options and reducing reliance on secure care.
Following implementation of the Close to Home Initiative, research showed that both out-of-home placement and juvenile arrests in New York City dropped, suggesting that we successfully reduced juvenile incarceration and increased community safety, simultaneously.
During the Obama Administration, I served as a senior advisor at the Office of Justice Programs, with a particular focus on eliminating racial disparities and implementing developmentally appropriate responses for children and young adults. I worked closely with OJJDP during those years and became familiar with the council’s work, as well, attending several meetings.
I have always believed this work is fundamental to a healthy, functioning and compassionate society. There is no more important investment we can make than the investments we make in the children of our country. We must do everything we can to ensure that those who are our future, have a future.
I want to thank you, the council, for your work on this front, and in particular, to recognize your accomplishments since the council’s re-launch in October of 2022. I know the council has held listening sessions and engagements with both professionals in the field and justice-involved youth and developed a plan that incorporates knowledge gained from people moving through the system, and those who have dedicated their lives to making that system better. I’m eager to see how the council builds on this momentum over the next few years as we continue to build partnerships and support.
And partnership really is the key to this work. Effectively serving young people and their families is much more feasible when industry professionals, practitioners and agencies have a shared vision and goals.
I have seen firsthand the role that you as council members play in creating opportunities for youth. From helping to meet basic needs like food, housing and healthcare to expanding opportunities for education and employment to identifying positive role models in young people’s lives – we know if we can work together more effectively, we can disrupt the pipelines that feed into the justice system. That means more opportunities and better lives for young people, and improved public safety for us all.
And I’m excited that in today’s meeting you’ll have a chance to hear about new ways agencies are leveraging partnerships to better serve youth in the system and those at risk of contact with the law. Truly inspiring work is being done, and I regret that I won’t be able to stay here for the full meeting to engage with this committed group of partners.
Again, thank you all for being here, and I will hand things off to Liz to get us started.
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