Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative
Volume 2, Issue 1 January/ February 2015
J.D.A.I On the Move
Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative
JDAI IS DATA DRIVEN
ADMISSIONS TO DETENTION
8000
7532
7000
6238
6000
5249
5000
3949
4000
3000
1304
1504
2000
1000
0
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
DETENTION POPULATUION COMPOSITION
FY 2014
PRE-JDAI FY 2011
T hef t of P r oper t y
$ 1, 000-$ 9, 999-V ehi cl e
Si m P oss/ Casual E xch-
4%
M ar j
4%
Robbery
Aggravat ed
4%
Robbery
Rape of a Chi l d
3%
4%
Aggravat ed
Di sor der l y Conduct
Assault
5%
4%
Criminal
26%
5%
25%
Trespassing
Domest i c A ssaul t
A ssaul t
Domest ic Assault
Unl awf ul P ossessi on
7%
of Weapon M i sdmn
7%
Thef t of Propert y
$500.00 or less
Robber y
7%
7%
Conduct
Burglary
11%
A ggr avat ed B ur gl ar y
Disorderly
Aggravat ed
19%
Assault
16%
16%
A ggr avat ed Robber y
11%
A ggr avat ed A ssaul t
15%
Volume , Issue
Page 2
Alternative to Detention: Porter-Leath
Porter-Leath is a licensed residential treatment center. It is a Level II, 24-bed facility with four
beds readily available for Juvenile Court. Youth referred to Porter-Leath are 13-17 years old
and require a structured environment that emphasizes intensive approaches toward treatment.
Youth receiving services at Porter-Leath generally have behavioral health problems such as
oppositional defiant disorder and others have extensive runaway histories, juvenile justice adjudications and are step-downs from youth detention centers. The program aims to meet the social and emotional needs of youth by using evidence-based practices.
For years, Porter-Leath has served as a resource for Juvenile Court. Porter-Leath, with its extensive history as a continuum provider, agreed to provide shelter bed services to the Juvenile Court, which includes reunification and
respite services. Given the tremendous need in the community, Porter-Leath alleviates some of the challenges faced by Juvenile Court.
This relationship started because the Juvenile Court needed to acquire additional beds to comply with the settlement agreement with the
Department of Justice.
Today, Porter-Leath serves over 110 youth per year and most of the youth require respite care,
counseling, and a “cooling off period.” Youth can stay in the program for up to 21 days. However, the average length of stay is approximately 3-4 days. During their stay, all of their needs are
met by a caring staff. In addition to the behavioral health treatment, youth are provided life
skills, recreational skills, meals, educational support, and visitation and phone contact with family. Youth participate in community outings such as, trips to the movies, skating, bowling, and
other community events.
Upon discharge, Porter-Leath provides aftercare support for youth and family for an additional
60 days.
VOICES from the Field
Reverend Audrey Taylor Gonzalez
Reverend Audrey Taylor Gonzalez has
traveled the world, climbed mountains
and ridden on the backs of elephants,
camels and yaks, but her passion continues to be working with JDAI.
Rev. Gonzalez believes in JDAI. She said,
“JDAI brings hope to many youth who
had to experience detention for minor
crimes when they weren’t dangerous to
themselves or the community. With alternative options, like evening reporting
centers, special boxing and sports programs, mentoring, art and social programs and other offerings, there are ways
of making the youth aware of the seriousness of their actions while giving them a
second or third chance to make better
choices.”
Rev. Gonzalez works tirelessly as the
Chair of the JDAI Alternative to Detention Subcommittee and uses all her energy developing a continuum of alternatives
to detention for youth. “We need to solve
the problem of lack of beds for youth in
domestic violence situations. These kids
need a safe place where they can go until
things cool
down,” said
Reverend
Gonzalez.
Rev. Gonzalez is in
daily contact with
the JDAI
site coordinator, Kimbrell Owens, to strategize the next steps for the
Alternatives to Detention Subcommittee.
They also analyze data about the youth in
Juvenile Court and attend meetings with
key stakeholders in the community.
Rev. Gonzales said that her greatest honor
is serving as the Chaplain for the Memphis Police Department South Main Precinct. She attends Friday roll calls to pray
for each shift. She is a trained CIT (Crisis
Intervention Team) officer and does frequent ride-a-longs with police officers. She
is one of the two commissioners from Shelby County on the Tennessee Commission
on Childhood and Youth where she is a member of the Juvenile Justice Committee and
the Child Advocacy Committee. She hopes to
use her position to assist with achieving the
goals of the JDAI Governing Committee and
the youth of Shelby County. And, she is
mother of three, grandmother of seven and is
an addicted to aerial yoga and gyrotonics,
which she does, somehow, four times a
weeks.
Despite her full, active life, Rev. Gonzalez
remains committed to the children of Memphis and Shelby County. “It is urgent that
the youth who passed through the revolving
doors of Juvenile Court 14 or 15 times be
diverted with services after their first or
second time of committing a crime,” said Rev.
Gonzalez. “The many organizations and
churches in this community need to take up
the responsibility for our kids and work together for better communities. I believe that
by working with Juvenile Court, the Memphis Police Department and vibrant organizations concerned about youth, JDAI can be
the viable answer. I will work to get this
accomplished until I’m useless.”
Page 3
JDAI TRAINS MEMPHIS POLICE
JDAI advocates understanding the dynamics between youth and law enforcement
officers encounters. Often, law enforcement officers do not understand the perspective
of youth and vice versa; however, trainings often help both sides see each other differently. Law officers understand a little bit more about why some teenagers are argumentative, loud and make poor decisions -- they are wired that way.
On September 26, 2014, Dr. Altha Stewart, Mark Soler and Keri Nash conducted an
eight-hour training to approximately 35 members of Memphis Police Department (MPD)
on adolescent development, the history of juvenile courts in America, the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI), and the settlement agreement between the Department of Justice and the Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County. Mark Soler
is the Executive Director of the Center for Children's Law and Policy (CCLP), and Keri
Nash is a Staff Attorney at CCLP. Dr. Stewart is the Director of Systems of Care for the
Office of the Shelby County Public Defender and the Administrator of the Just Family
Network.
Dr. Stewart began the training with a four-hour interactive session on “Adolescent Development.” The training was designed to provide MPD personnel with a basic understanding of adolescent development and the impact of home and community youth choices and decision-making. The four-hour session included a review of brain
development, conditions that adversely affect youth, risk factors specific to young people
in Memphis and Shelby County, and the impact of trauma on adolescent development.
Mark and Keri discussed the history of the juvenile justice system which sparked conversation about the treatment of youth before the creation of juvenile courts. They also
discussed the creation of the juvenile court in 1899, the case of In re Gault, and the
evolution of juvenile courts and the juvenile justice system. They taught officers about
what happens to youth after an officer transports a youth to intake, the Detention
Assessment Tool (DAT), and the SHAPE Program. Officers learned about the "call-in"
program, which allows officers to call the intake center at detention to determine if a
child warrants being transported to Juvenile Court based upon their DAT score.
Lieutenant Colonel Michael R. Williams, Memphis Police Department, hopes these
trainings will continue. These trainings can help lower the number of youth held in detention. The officers share how comical and frustrating it is to transport children to
Juvenile Court only to have the youth released back into the community before the officer returns to her post. The officers are hopeful that JDAI will be beneficial to the
community.
Early training outcomes show the training has provided for an increased flow of information between Memphis Police Department, Sheriff’s Department, and Juvenile Court.
Volume , Issue
Page 4
Kimbrell Owens
JDAI Site Coordinator
616 Adams Avenue
P.O. BOX 310
Memphis, TN 38101
Phone: 901-405-8590
Fax: 901-405-8839
E-mail: [email protected]
Memphis-Shelby JDAI
Executive Committee
Chair: Cheryl Beard
Larry Scroggs
Dini Malone
Gary Cummings
John Hall
Governing Committee
Chair: Cheryl Beard
Subcommittees and Chairs
Alternatives to Detention
Chair: Audrey Gonzalez
Data
Chair: Bill Cash
Disproportionate Minority Contact
Chair: Heather Mclemore
Get Involved!
There are many ways you can be a part of the
Memphis-Shelby County Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI). JDAI is always seeking
programs, services, suggestions and ideas about
how to provide alternatives to secure detention.
To learn about volunteer opportunities or to get involved, contact the
site coordinator, Kimbrell Owens.
Schedule of Events
 January 29, 2015: Memphis and Shelby County Governing
Committee Meeting
 January 30, 2015: Teen Bridge Program, Whitehaven Library
 February 3, 2015: Junior Achievement Company Program,
Benjamin Hooks Library
 February 4, 2015: Panel, The Strike that Brought Martin
Luther King, Jr. to Memphis, Cossitt Library
 February 4, 2015: New Teen Lab Groundbreaking, Benjamin Hooks Library
 February 7 & February 22, 2015: NACA Homeownership
Workshop, Hickory Ridge Mall Towne Centre
 February 11—April 8, 2015: Tax Assistance, University of
Memphis Law School
A Word from the Court - New Director of Court Services
Pam Skelton, the new Director of Court Services, started on October 1, 2014. Pam is an
attorney who joins the court after many years as in-house counsel for EnSafe, an
environmental and engineering firm headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. Pam also
worked for AutoZone and served the citizens of Shelby County as the Contract Administrator under Mayor Wharton’s administration. She also worked as a public defender and
defense attorney.
As the Director of Court Services, Pam works closely with Gary Cummings,
Administrator of the Detention Services Bureau (DSB), and Mamie Jones, Deputy
Administrator of DSB. They manage the Juvenile Court's detention facility.
Pam Skelton
Director, Court Services
Pam is interested in the work of JDAI. She engages with Kimbrell Owens, the JDAI Site Coordinator for
Memphis and Shelby County, frequently. Pam also met with Mark Soler, the Executive Director of the Center for Law and Policy and the JDAI Technical Assistance Team Leader for Memphis and Shelby County.
Being a member of JDAI, is good for the Juvenile Court and Pam is looking forward to working with
Kimbrell and others to assist in implementing the eight core strategies of JDAI in Memphis and Shelby
County.