NEWS AND EVENTS

Winter 2012

As the Jane Addams Juvenile Court Foundation (JAJCF) approaches its sunset in the summer of 2012, we look back with satisfaction at the many accomplishments of our partnership with the Cook County Juvenile Court. The details of the many efforts undertaken through this partnership and the progress achieved can be found under Key Accomplishments.

The last two years have focused on institutionalizing the substantial progress at the court; supporting the collection and reporting of key data to inform decision-making; working with the Court and national experts to rethink the use of detention in Cook County; and creating an ongoing mechanism for citizen engagement and oversight with the Court after JAJCF 's sunset.

Over the last few years, in partnership with all of the offices of the Court and a broad range of key stakeholders, JAJCF has:

• Completed and distributed the first public report of the Court in over two decades;

• Provided the Court with concrete recommendations for data integration and collection and developed strategies for improvement of ongoing data collection and reporting;

• Completed, in partnership with the Chief Judge and the National Center on Crime and Delinquency, a study to rethink the use of detention in Cook County to bring it in line with best practice nationally, resulting in a report that is now helping to guide a new vision for juvenile detention;

• Created the Court Improvement Steering Team, to facilitate and guide subsequent reform efforts, spearheaded by two dynamic Juvenile Court judges;

• Developed a vital cross-system training mechanism within the Court, certified for Continuing Legal Education credits, that facilitates the Court's substantial core and advanced training programs;

• Finalized and implemented a systems change model that involves: collaborative and informed planning; highly public buy-in from the leadership of all offices; joint training across offices; and most importantly (and unusually for the Court) routine monitoring and assessment of impact on day-to-day court practice;

• Attracted both private and public support to create a Parent Mentoring Program that trains parents to support new parents coming into the child welfare system to understand their rights and responsibilities and to navigate the seemingly overwhelming challenges they face;

• Built on the success of our Youth Empowerment Initiative to implement key changes in court functioning to more fully engage youth in the court process and conducted training of court personnel, DCFS, and nonprofit staff to expand commitment to engaging youth in the court process;

• Secured support from the Chief Judge and key private partners toward the creation of an ongoing mechanism for citizen engagement and oversight with the Court and Juvenile Temporary Detention Center.

BARJ Week

Please join us at the Juvenile Court April 30th-May 4th for the 6th Annual Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ) Week to celebrate the successful use of BARJ practices to support healthy youth development and rehabilitation and repairing the harm to victims and communities.