Information Sharing & Agency Integration

Roanoke, Virginia (2015 MSI)

• • • Description: To build a framework for information sharing so that crossover youth can be identified at the point of entry into the either the child welfare or juvenile justice system through: 

      • • Solidifying a collaborative partnership through the development and execution of an MOU. 

        • Designating a graduate student to collect and analyze baseline data on outcomes for crossover youth. 

        • Developing staff training that focuses on the new information sharing process and the Collaborative Family Conferencing (CFC) process. 

• • Contacts:

    • Cathy Brown, Senior Director of Child and Family Services, Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare

    • Yolanda Conaway-Wood, Executive Director for Student Services, Roanoke City Schools

    • Jane Conlin, Director of Social Services, City of Roanoke

    • Colleen French, District 23A Court Services, VA Department of Juvenile Justice

    • Valerie Koeppel, Director, Youth Advocate Programs Inc.

    • Julie Payne, CSA Coordinator, City of Roanoke

Albany, New York (2015 SJP)

• • Description: Improve educational outcomes and decrease youth’s involvement in the juvenile justice system through 1) Developing an information sharing system between Public Schools, Police, Probation, Children Youth and Families, and Mental Health Departments; 2) Identifying and providing voluntary, preventive services for high-risk, high-needs youth and their families.

    • Update (2018): Due to funding challenges, the team has switched gear and become focused on partnering with the Albany City School District to decrease the number of students becoming involved in the juvenile justice through promoting the use of restorative justice practices, handling school-based incidents within the school system without involving law enforcement and probation officers, and collaborating with child welfare agency to provide prevention services for at-risk youth. 

  • Contacts: 

    • • Lesley Buff, North Albany Academy Principal, Albany City School District

      • Grant Cowles, Excelsior Fellow - Juvenile Justice Policy Analyst, Division of Criminal Justice Services, Office of Juvenile Justice 

      • Brendan Cox, Chief of Police, City of Albany

      • Gail Geohagen-Pratt, Commissioner, Albany County Department for Children, Youth and Families

      • Andrew (Andy) Wong, President, AJWI, Inc.

      • Kimberly Wilkins, Myers Middle Schoo Principal, Albany City School District

      • Judge Margaret Walsh, Family Court Judge, New York State

      • Sean Rentz, Senior Probation Officer, Albany County Probation Department

Chicago, Illinois (2014 ISCP)

• • Description: Utilize a software database, the Juvenile Diversion System, to improve information sharing and support youth diversion services in Cook County, IL.

  • Contact: Marvin Savage, CEO, Accutron Systems, Inc.

Indiana (2014 ISCP)

• • • Description: Provide recommendations and resources to promote effective and efficient information sharing through the mapping of current information sharing practices and policies. The team will:

• • • • 1) Conduct a survey of data sharing knowledge, needs, and challenges among key stakeholders involved in child welfare and juvenile justice.

      • 2) Conduct legal analysis of state and federal confidentiality and information sharing policies.

      • 3) Develop and disseminate an information sharing guidebook.

      • 4) Develop sample MOUs to be used for local agencies.

      • 5) Identify several pilot sites to implement best information sharing practice.

• • • Update (2016): The team has finished drafting an Information Sharing Guide and obtained endorsement of the guide's content, and developed a website and mobile app to distribute the Information Sharing Guide, designed to be accessible in the field for staff even when no internet is available. 

• • Contacts:

    • Michael Commons, Staff Attorney, Indiana Supreme Court

    • Lisa Thompson, Project Manager, Judicial Automation Committee, Indiana Supreme Court

    • Doris Tolliver, Chief of Staff, Department of Children Services

    • Julie Whitman, VP, Indiana Youth Institute

San Francisco, CA (2014 ISCP)

• • Description: Establish data-sharing committee, data sharing steering committee, position of citywide Chief Privacy Officer, uniform citywide client consent form, data request and approval process and standardized forms, template MOUs, legal resources like summaries of relevant statutes, common data fields in case management systems to facilitate data-matching, technical means of facilitating data-sharing, etc.

  • Contact: Kyle Patterson, Project Manager - Controller's Office, City and County of San Francisco

New York City Probation (Dec. 2013 ISCP)

• • Description: Using Electronic Database Information Sharing as a strategic approach to building community capacity to reduce recidivism and improve rehabilitation outcomes for African-American and Hispanic youth on probation in New York City.

  • Contacts:

    • Marian Inguanzo, Social Worker - Research Foundation of CUNY

    • Rodney Smith, Probation Officer - NYC Department of Probation

Delaware (2013 YIC)

• • Description: Develop integrated case management for youth transferring from residential treatment to community.

  • Contacts: 

    • Tanya Banks, Acting Assistant Superintendent - State of Delaware, Division of Youth Rehabilitative Services

    • Susan Burns, Region Manager - Delaware Division of Youth Rehabilitative Services

    • Nancy Dietz, Director of Youth Rehabilitative Services - State of Delaware

    • Alison McGonigal, Deputy Director - State of Delaware

    • Raheem Perkins, Superintendent - State of Delaware (DSCYF)

    • Rebecca Richmond, Licensed Psychologist - State of Delaware/Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Families

    • Thomas Spell, Acting Superintendent - State of Delaware

Illinois (2013 YIC)

• • Description: Develop an action plan to address youth assessments and needs, staff capacity, safety, and outcome measures.

    • Update (2015): In April 2014, the IDJJ and ACLU agreed-upon remedial plan was approved by the federal court in the RJ v Jones consent decree. The lawsuit challenged IDJJ's provision of services across mental health, education, and safety and security. IDJJ is in the process of updating policies and practices to improve services in these areas. IDJJ is moving forward with the implementation of YASI and is working to provide more extensive educational programming, which allow teachers and staff to utilize online education in addition to direct instructional strategies. 

  • Contacts:

    • Jeff Bradley, Illinois State JDAI Coordinator - Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission

    • Era Laudermilk, Chief of Staff - Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice *NOTE* Era is no longer with IDJJ.

    • Mary Reynolds, Chief of Intergovernmental Relations - Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice

Wyoming (July 2012 MSI - Public)

• • Description: Combine case management system and promote early identification, ensuring that one judge presides over each family's proceedings rather than splitting it among two or more.

  • Contacts: 

    • Clint Hanes, Instructor II - Wyoming Department of Family Services

    • Edwin Heimer, District Manager - Department of Family Services, State of Wyoming

    • Jeffrey Lamm, Social Services Manager - Wyoming Department of Family Services

Connecticut (2012 ISCP)

• • Description: Convene an inter-agency work group, including Departments of Education (SDE) and Children and Families (DCF), to brainstorm information sharing ideas.

    • Update (2017): The team has executed the Access to Education Information MOU between SDE and DCF to share confidential student information upon permission being granted by parents, and there has been more intentional collaboration with local school districts based on the framework developed as a result of the Capstone Project. DCF now has an "educational dashboard" replete with educational performance statistics for youth in its care. *The Capstone Project was successfully concluded*

  • Contacts: 

    • Elizabeth Duryea, Director of Development - Department of Children and Families

    • Allon Kalisher, Regional Administrator - Connecticut Department of Children and Families

    • Karina Lewis, Senior Policy Associate - Annie E. Casey Foundation

    • Diane Murphy, Education Consultant - Connecticut Department of Education

    • William Rosenbeck, Superintendent, Connecticut Juvenile Training School - State of Connecticut, Department of Children and Families

    • Ellen Ross, Senior Research Analyst - Annie E. Casey Foundation *NOTE* Ellen is no longer with Annie E. Casey Foundation and no longer involved in the Capstone Project.

Eckerd, Florida (2012 ISCP)

• • Description: Create an information sharing guide for case managers regarding education.

  • Contacts: 

    • Jody Grutza, Director of National Advocacy and Public Policy - Eckerd

    • Judith Warren, Executive Director - Eckerd

Puerto Rico (July 2011 MSI - Public)

• • Description: Develop an inter-agency report that analyzes that needs of 5 public housing projects in Guayama, PR; Conduct service-mapping; Fill the gap of information sharing between the state and local levels; Create information sharing protocol (MOA) and increase provision of (and inter-agency collaboration in providing) services; Reduce entry into the juvenile justice system.

  • Contact: Cristobal Santiago, University Professor, Member of Puerto Rico Government State Advisory Group - Turabo University and City of Guayama Children and Family Commission

Arkansas (July 2011 MSI - Public)

• • Description: Develop a system to identify crossover youth and their needs (in two pilot jurisdictions); Prevent crossover of youth from child welfare to juvenile justice; Create information sharing protocol (MOA) and increase provision of (and inter-agency collaboration in providing) services; Create manual that maps available services; Invite more inter-agency reps to collaborative case management.

  • Contact: Gwendolyn Trigleth-Jackson, Juvenile Justice Specialist - Arkansas Department of Human Services 

South Carolina (July 2011 MSI - Public)

• • Description: Implement family group conferencing and co-locate staff (among other strategies, including inter-agency training) to improve coordination between the juvenile justice and child welfare systems to reduce the number of youth placed in out of home care.

  • Contact:

    • Melissa Bell-Gunn, County Director - South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice

    • Jan Bromell Holmes, Family Court Judge - South Carolina Judicial Department

    • Richard Culbertson, Program Coordinator I - Georgetown County Department of Social Services

    • Rhonda Greene, Regional Administrator - South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice

    • Sylvia Mitchum, Program Manager I - Georgetown County Department of Social Services

    • Mary Williams, Director of Program Improvement - South Carolina Department of Social Services

Kenosha County, WI (July 2011 MSI - Public)

• • Description: Reduce the number of child welfare involved children who become involved in the juvenile justice system by improving data collection/analysis, improving information sharing between juvenile justice and child welfare, developing joint assessment and staffing protocols, and educating stakeholders.  

    • Update (2015): The team implemented CANS assessment for all child welfare youth within 30 days of placement, with a focus on identifying children with higher behavioral and mental health needs; starting in January 2013, all parents will fill out ACE survey and a resilience/stress questionnaire; constructed a report that's embedded in the statewide system; researched common characteristics of the crossover youth and conducted training as a response to the finding, which indicated that history of trauma is one of the most common crossover youth characteristics.

  • Contacts: 

    • Daniel Baran, Program Administrator - Community Impact Programs

    • Nancy Ramsey, Lead Supervisor/DMC Coordinator - Kenosha County Department of Human Services

Mecklenburg County, NC (Oct. 2011 MSI - Public)

• • Description: Develop an integrated Children’s Services Division (CSD) that includes public child and family services within the System of Care framework; Establish common understanding of current services, policies, and procedures; assessments, definitions, tools, service-mapping, within the public systems impacting crossover youth; Maximize use of funding and resources available to support crossover youth and their families; Raise awareness of disproportionality of youth of color and the role individuals play in the perpetuation of disparities.

  • Contacts:

    • Kimm Campbell, Director, Systems of Care and Forensic Evaluations - Mecklenburg County Area Mental Health

    • Dana Frady, District Administrator - Judicial District 26 Guardian ad Litem Program

    • Michelle Lancaster-Sandlin, General Manager - Mecklenburg County

    • Laura McFern, Chief Court Counselor - North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

    • Louis Trosch, District Court Judge - North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts

    • Mary Wilson, Director, Department of Social Services - Mecklenburg County

District of Columbia/Maryland (2010 MSI - Public)

• • Description: Draft an information sharing guide and implement it in Safe Schools/Healthy Students sites to help them share information more effectively with other systems to help improve outcomes for youth known to multiple systems of care. This guide will be distributed to Safe Schools Healthy Students (SSHS) sites in Maryland. 

  • Contact: John Rosiak, Senior Project Director and TA Specialist - Education Development Center, National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention

Maryland (2010 MSI - Private)

• • Description: 1) Gather data on the number of changes that a youth experiences when their placement is changed (eg: schools, therapists, etc)  and 2) Create a collaborative court which will take these changes into consideration when making placement decisions when youth violate probation.

  • Contact: Ryan Banks, Functional Family Therapy Coordinator - Center for Children

Athens, Georgia (2009 MSI)

• • Description: Increase collaboration between the Georgia DJJ and the Department of Family and Child Services in order to eliminate gaps and overlaps of services.

  • Contact: Mary Hermann, Faculty - Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

Florida (2009 MSI)

• • Description: Develop a diversionary program to convert misdemeanor juvenile criminal offenses committed in or around group homes into civil infractions (civil citation program). This diversionary tactic aims to reduce the number of crossover youth and better address medical and therapeutic needs, with the ultimate goal of seeing challenged foster youths achieve permanency.

  • Contact: Jon Johnson, General Magistrate - State of Florida

Massachusetts (2009 MSI)

• • Description: Identify crossover youth before their arraignment in juvenile court and reverse the policy that prohibits the sharing of this information with district attorneys and defense attorneys.

  • Contact:  Jennifer (Jenn) McNulty, Assistant District Attorney - Cape and Island District Attorney

Oklahoma (2009 MSI)

• • Description: Develop a dual-jurisdiction (child welfare and juvenile justice) trauma-informed court that will oversee the treatment, placement, and other needs of crossover youth to 1) make sure they are adequately cared for, and 2) reduce gaps and duplication of services.

  • Contact: Felice Hamilton, Court Improvement Program, Project Coordinator - Supreme Court of Oklahoma

Nebraska (2009 MSI)

• • Description: Reduce duplication of services and promote cooperation between the Nebraska Administrative Office of Probation (AOP) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Identify youth that are dually-involved and determine which of the two agencies will serve them best, on a case-by-case basis.

    • Update (2011): Corey identified the dually supervised juveniles and created a more seamless service delivery system, including service mapping, define services and costs, as well as service expectations. The project is implemented, and there has been a 53% reduction in dual-supervision cases in 2011, compared to 2009. As a result of the project, a juvenile fee-for-service voucher system is also created to provide complete spectrum of rehabilitative services, both in-home and out-of-home. 

  • Contact: Corey Steel, Juvenile Justice Specialist - Nebraska Office of Probation Administration

Ojibwe Tribe, White Earth Native American Reservation, Minnesota (2009 MSI)

• • Description: Establish a collaborative court for youth involved in the juvenile justice system, as well as in the child welfare system and/or facing truancy charges.

  • Contact: Anita Fineday, Chief Judge - White Earth Tribal Nation 

Florida (2008 MSI CPI)

• • Description: Implement joint case management (between child welfare and juvenile justice) for crossover youth whose transition plan is for independent living.

  • Contact: Terri Buckley, Director of Program Development - State of Florida, Department of Juvenile Justice

Alaska (2008 MSI CPI)

• • Description: Joint case management for crossover youth, by creating 1) information sharing in case management computer systems, and 2) joint court hearings.

  • Contact: Leonard Wood, Chief Probation Officer - State of Alaska

California (2008 MSI CPI)

• • Description: Implement communication strategy (create and execute a "Message Box") in support of pre-existing information sharing initiative.

  • Contact: Kathy New, Probation Director - LA County Department of Probation