About 50 youth justice professionals from across the country gathered in Nashville Aug. 15-17 to participate in the Center for Improving Youth Justice’s (CIYJ) 2024 Agency Coordinators Training and 20th Anniversary Awards Night Gala. The event was a dynamic gathering filled with networking sessions, meaningful connections and inspiring moments.
CIYJ selected the event theme “Amplifying Voices, Amplifying Impact” to draw attention to the need and opportunities to include the voices of the young people and families in all aspects of daily care, agency decision-making and strategic planning. Agencies partnering with CIYJ through the Performance-based Standards program survey young people, staff and families twice yearly to listen to their experiences, feelings and feedback. Agencies use the survey data to ensure their practices and policies are fair, safe, effective and respectful and young people leave ready and prepared to transition back to the community successfully. Training participants shared strategies and success stories using the survey data to honor and integrate the voices of those they serve.
Sean Hosman, founder of Persevere, presented the keynote address. As a longtime believer and promoter of justice data with experience in the criminal justice system, he created Persevere to teach incarcerated people how to code and prepare them for employment post-release. Sean also founded Vant4ge, a human services and predictive analytics technology company that has revolutionized correctional care and case management and Banyan Labs, a technology development company that hires Persevere graduates. His keynote, “Ready, Willing and Enabled,” resonated deeply with the audience and set an energetic and inspired tone for the day.
Three young people with justice-system experience stole the show during the Awards Night Gala. Maurice the Music inspired the audience with his story and musical performance. Maurice, who won the first CIYJ Kids Got Talent Contest in 2015, shared how winning the contest gave him the confidence to follow his passion for music and enter the American Idol competition in 2022. He showed how one opportunity could lead to others and urged the audience to support future talent contests and make the CIYJ contest national. Stephen Kaplan, a CIYJ Mentor and past winner of CIYJ’s scholarship and employment matching awards, shared how much the organization has done for him and how mentoring other young people has turned into lifelong friendships. He introduced his mentee Dalton, who expressed gratitude for receiving the 2024 J. Russell “Russ” Jennings Scholarship. Dalton, who has already earned an associate’s degree, will begin working toward his Bachelor’s degree next week, with aspirations of becoming a Data Scientist. Dalton shared, “Stephen is absolutely my brother, I wouldn’t be where I am today without him.” He continued, “If there’s one thing I can leave you with, tell kids they can amount to something. I thought I’d be in jail or dead, but people believed there was a different path for me.”
Other meeting highlights include:
- Breakout sessions focused on practical strategies, including 5 Ways to: “Use Data,” “Get Staff Buy-In,” “Inspire Staff” and “Integrate Data with Other Reporting Requirements”
- CIYJ Jeopardy
- “Amplifying Voices” and “Amplifying Impact” Site Coordinator Panels
- “How Technology is Crafting the Future: What’s to Come for Performance-based Standards”
The 2024 Agency Coordinator’s Training was a resounding success, filled with learning, collaboration and celebration. CIYJ looks forward to continuing to amplify voices and amplify impact in the youth justice space.