WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Six of the seven living former administrators of the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) will participate in an unprecedented forum on Nov. 10 to discuss how the agency has carried out its mission over three decades and where it should go in the future.
The forum, OJJDP @ 35: A Juvenile Justice Conversation, will be held at the historic Sumner School located at 1201 17th St. NW in Washington, D.C., from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Youth Today, the Newspaper and News Service on Youth Work, is host of the event.
OJJDP was established 35 years ago by a federal law to protect and rehabilitate justice-involved youth. The Juvenile Justice Act is up for reauthorization and OJJDP is awaiting the appointment of an administrator by the Obama administration. The forum will feature panel discussions with former administrators, who are meeting for the first time to reflect on their tenures at the agency:
-- John Rector, President Jimmy Carter's appointee (1977 to 1979)
-- Ira M. Schwartz, President Carter's appointee (1979 to 1981)
-- Alfred S. Regnery, President Ronald Reagan's appointee (1983 to 1987)
-- Verne L. Speirs, President Reagan's appointee (1987 to 1989)
-- Robert W. Sweet Jr., President George H.W. Bush's appointee (1990 to
1992)
-- Shay Bilchik, President Bill Clinton's appointee (1994 to 2000)
"I've been impressed by the eagerness of the former administrators to talk openly about their tenures - both their successes and their struggles," said Patrick Boyle, editor of Youth Today. "Their hope is that the juvenile justice field can learn from the past in order to move forward."
The administrators will make presentations and take part in a moderated question-and-answer session. About 150 juvenile justice experts, congressional staffers and others in the audience will be invited to join in the forthright examination of OJJDP's history and the future of the juvenile justice field.
"We expect there will be a lot to talk about given OJJDP's somewhat rocky history, as well as its accomplishments," said Bill Treanor, publisher of Youth Today, who in the 1980s served on the Senate committee that was charged with the oversight of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. "We expect a frank and honest discussion."
The forum was organized with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Youth Today has set up an event website with biographies of the former administrators, the agenda, registration information, and articles and historical documents. For more information, go online to www.youthtodayexchange.org.
With a national distribution and readership of more than 60,000, Youth Today covers the business of starting, operating and evaluating programs in areas such as juvenile justice, foster care, mentoring, substance abuse, child welfare, behavioral health, after school, youth employment and youth development. Youth Today and Youth Today Online (www.youthtoday.org) are also resources for the latest grant and funding updates and best practice tips for effectively running youth work organizations. For nearly 18 years, our mission has been to provide quality, independent journalism devoted entirely to policy issues and programs affecting children and youth.
Erin Young
Circulation & Marketing Manager of Youth Today
202-785-0764, ext. 108
e-mail, eyoung@youthtoday.org
Youth Today
