Save the Date! OJJDP’s National Conference on Youth Justice Takes Place November 19–21

Make plans now to join OJJDP for 3 days of inspiration, innovation, and connection at the 2024 OJJDP National Conference on Youth Justice, November 19–21, in Washington, DC.

With a focus on “Shaping the Next 50 Years” in youth justice, the National Conference will bring together youth, their families, OJJDP grantees, youth justice practitioners, researchers, and other stakeholders who are working to transform the juvenile justice system. There will be more than 90 workshops, plenary sessions, and opportunities for young people to meet and network.

The National Conference is the capstone event for OJJDP’s year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), the landmark legislation requiring safe and equitable treatment of young people who encounter the juvenile justice system. The JJDPA established OJJDP and charges the Office with providing national leadership, resources, and funding to states, local jurisdictions, and federally recognized Tribes to protect children, prevent delinquency, and improve juvenile justice systems. 
 

Coordinating Council Discusses Trauma-Informed Support for Youth

At the June 27, 2024, meeting of the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, panelists from four federal agencies outlined their agencies’ efforts to provide trauma-informed and healing-centered support to youth and families.

In opening remarks, OJJDP Administrator Liz Ryan urged Council members to consider potential opportunities for collaboration. “We must work together to give young people a chance to move beyond their negative experiences, to overcome their challenges, and to stop the cycle of crime and violence,” she said. Assistant Attorney General Amy Solomon and Acting Associate Attorney General Ben Mizer also delivered opening remarks.

The panel of federal officials outlined a range of efforts broadly aimed at assisting youth coping with childhood trauma:

• The Department of Health and Human Services emphasizes prevention and concrete supports such as childcare and cash assistance, which have a proven role in reducing adverse childhood experiences.  
   
• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) develops best practices for trauma-informed care through its leadership of an interagency task force, while also working to ensure that trauma-informed approaches are infused in every agency funding announcement.
   
• The Department of Labor’s YouthBuild workforce training program allows participants to acquire vocational skills, receive a high school diploma or GED, and prepare for postsecondary training opportunities. Partnerships with SAMHSA have helped YouthBuild develop and administer technical assistance on topics such as harm reduction and how to address substance use.
   
• The Department of Education strives to promote a positive learning environment for children through technical assistance centers such as its National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments and by promoting differentiated supports that address the root causes of a child’s behavior.
   
• The Department of Housing and Urban Development partners with other federal agencies to ensure a wide range of supportive services that prevent and help reduce the impact of trauma for youth and family residents of public housing. 

Following the panel discussion, OJJDP staff updated the Council on the status of the Council’s 2024 report to the President and Congress. During the April Council meeting, members selected five priorities for the report. The priorities share many common values, calling for actions that are community-based or community-led; are trauma-informed, healing focused, and culturally responsive; address the entire continuum of care of youth programs and services; and engage meaningfully with individuals with lived experience of the juvenile justice system.

Since April, the Council’s two subcommittees—on policy and on programs and practice—have worked to organize the priorities into discrete recommendations for the Council’s proposed 2025 workplan. Visit the Council website for more information and to listen to a recording of the June meeting. 
 

OJJDP Training Aims To Strengthen Ties With National Sheriffs’ Association

In an effort to establish closer ties to sheriffs’ departments, OJJDP presented “Keep Kids Out of Jail,” a training session on the core requirements of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), during the National Sheriffs’ Association annual conference. The event took place June 24–27 in Oklahoma City, OK.

By explaining the JJDPA and its requirements, the session was intended to help sheriffs’ departments improve outcomes for justice-involved youth and their families. OJJDP Program Manager Didier Moncion and retired Sheriff Dave Mahoney led the training, which focused on what sheriffs’ departments need to do to comply with three of the JJDPA’s core protections for system-involved youth, including those charged and tried as adults: deinstitutionalizing youth found guilty of status offenses, separating youth from incarcerated adults, and removing youth from adult jails and lockups. Mr. Moncion and Sheriff Mahoney also discussed Prison Rape Elimination Act requirements for housing youth and how those requirements intersect with the JJDPA’s core requirements.

The National Sheriffs’ Association developed the training under its cooperative agreement with OJJDP to provide training and technical assistance to states and territories to implement the Title II Formula Grants program.
 

Toolkit for Leveraging Youth Perspectives Debuts at OAYI Youth Advisory Board’s Summit

OJJDP’s Opioid Affected Youth Initiative (OAYI) Youth Task Force hosted its 2024 Youth Summit, “Embracing the Youth Experience,” June 26–27, in Orlando, FL. Participants included staff from OJJDP grantee project sites and young adults from around the country, many with lived experience of opioid use disorder—either their own use or a family member’s. 

The 14-member OAYI Youth Task Force—a youth advisory board—formed in 2023, following a nationwide call for applications from youth ages 18 to 24 with direct experience of opioid use disorder or of the juvenile, criminal, or child welfare systems. Each of the young adults is associated with an OJJDP grantee project site. The board’s formation reflects OJJDP’s commitment to lifting up the youth voice and ensuring that all Office initiatives consider and respond to insights from youth about what works in youth justice, what does not, and why.

Summit attendees were the first to receive access to a toolkit created by the Youth Task Force, Youth Engagement in Action: Tools for Leveraging Youth Perspectives to Enhance Engagement with Emerging Leaders. The toolkit frames substance use disorders as a public health crisis and promotes the use of collaborative approaches—involving both youth and providers—to address the crisis and its impact on communities.

The 2-day event featured breakout sessions for both youth and providers. Members of the youth advisory board led the two breakout sessions for young people, one focused on the essential skills and mindset necessary for professional development, and the second on healthy coping skills for managing daily stressors and maintaining well-being. Advisory board members also participated in panel discussions on breaking generational barriers to collaborative partnerships, and led a training on the use of naloxone to reverse the effects of opioid overdose.

The summit keynote was offered by Sunny Patel, Senior Advisor for Children, Youth, and Families at the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), whose remarks explored the intersection of substance use and mental health, and its impact on young people. Overdose deaths in the United States exceeded 100,000 for three consecutive years, Dr. Patel said, reaching more than 106,000 during the 12 months ending in August 2023. Youth ages 12–17 with major depressive disorder are more likely to use illicit drugs, marijuana, and opioids, and to binge alcohol or use tobacco products. Promoting resilience and emotional health for children, youth, and families is one of the priorities outlined in SAMHSA's strategic plan for 2023–2026, Dr. Patel noted.