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 (OJJDP) 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 while increasing 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 by attending several meetings.
I have always believed this work is fundamental to a healthy functioning society. There is no more important investment we can make than investments in our country's children. We must do everything we can ensure those who are our future have one.
I want to thank you, the council members, for your work on this front especially recognizing your accomplishments since re-launching in October 2022. The council has held listening sessions engaging both field professionals justice-involved youth developing plans incorporating knowledge from people moving through dedicating their lives improving it further making partnerships supporting ongoing efforts crucially essential achievable goals shared vision effectively creating opportunities disrupting pipelines feeding into better lives improved public safety overall.
In today's meeting new ways agencies leverage partnerships better serve at-risk youth system truly inspiring regret unable stay full engage committed partners again thanking handing things off Liz get started.