Pennsylvania

2021 PA RED State-Level Team

Contacts:

Francia Henry, President, MION Consulting

Chad Libby, Director, Dauphin County Probation Services

Roi Ligon, Executive Policy Specialist, PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency

Rhonda McKitten; Director PA DMC Youth/Law Enforcement Corporation, Juvenile Justice Consultant; PA DMC Youth/Law Enforcement Corporation

Royce Morris, Judge, Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas

Robert Tomassini, Deputy Director, Juvenile Court Judges' Commission

Capstone Description:

The RED State Team seeks to assist the seven counties participating in the Georgetown Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Juvenile Justice Certificate Program with achieving their county-specific goals. In addition, the State Team will promote and support programs that provide alternatives to arrest for law enforcement.

2021 PA RED Allegheny County Team

Contacts:

Meghan Black, Deputy District Attorney, Office of the District Attorney of Allegheny County

Kimberly Booth, Assistant Chief Probation Officer, Allegheny County Juvenile Probation

The Honorable Judge Guido DeAngelis, Juvenile Court Judge, Allegheny County Family Division

John Fiscante, Assistant Chief Probation Officer, Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas

Richard Garland, Assistant Professor of Public Health Practice, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health

Michael McNamara, Chief Operations Officer, School District of Pittsburgh

Jeffrey Williams, Sr. Director of Diversion Initiatives, Foundation of HOPE

Capstone Description:

The Allegheny County Team’s Capstone Project seeks to address the disproportionate rate at which the Penn Hills Police Department arrests and refers Black youth to Allegheny County Juvenile Court through strengthening Allegheny County’s school-justice partnership and implementing new tools and programs to bolster diversion efforts.

2017 SJP Pittsburgh Public Schools/Allegheny County 

Contacts:

Dara Ware Allen, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services, Pittsburgh Public Schools

Meghan Black, Deputy District Attorney, Office of the District Attorney of Allegheny County

George Brown, Chief of School Police, Pittsburgh Public Schools

Melissa Friez, Assistant Superintendent, Pittsburgh Public Schools

Regina Holley, School Board President, Pittsburgh Public Schools

Kimberly Safran, Principal, Pittsburgh Public Schools

Capstone Description:

The team plans to address the school-to-prison pipeline issue in Pittsburgh Public Schools by implementing alternatives to suspension in order to reduce out-of-school suspensions and preventing students from repeating negative behaviors, reforming the discipline and juvenile justice referral processes, and revising the student code of conduct.

2016 SJP Allegheny County Team

Contacts:

Sanjeev Baidyaroy, Data Analyst, Allegheny County Department of Human Services

Shawn Forbes, Assistant Chief Probation Officer, Allegheny County Juvenile Probation

Melanie King, Allegheny County Juvenile Justice Planner, Great Lakes Behavioral Research Institute

Marsha Landers, Crossover Systems Liason, Allegheny County Juvenile Court

Michael Loughren, School Principal, Carlynton School District

Sarah Marker, Case Practice Specialist, Allegheny County

Dwayne Woodruff, Judge, Pennsylvania Judiciary

Capstone Description:

To create a judicially led collaborative pilot program that improves attendance, behavior, and academic performance of juvenile justice-involved youth. The team will emphasize restorative practices and incorporate Judge Steven Teske's school-justice partnership model and the Carlynton School District pilot components into the pilot Capstone Project.

Capstone Update (2017):

The team partnered with Woodland Hills School District as a pilot site for a pre-arrest diversion program. The core implementation team is collaborating with DHS behavioral health as well as law enforcement.

2013 MSI Allegheny County Team

Contacts:

Guido DeAngelis, Trial Judge--Juvenile Court - Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Administrative Office

Kristen DeComo-Jacobs, Multisystem Specialist - Allegheny County Department of Human Services

Jacki  Hoover, Assistant Deputy Director Children Youth and Families - Allegheny County

Kerry O'Donnell, Falk Fellow - Falk Foundation

Tiffany Sizemore, Deputy Director, Juvenile Division - Office of the Public Defender, Allegheny County

Capstone Description:

Analyze data to identify which criminogenic needs among child welfare-involved youth are most correlated with later crossover into juvenile justice.  Then, use this to identify high-risk youth moving forward and determine which services to target them with.

2021 PA RED Chester County Team

Contacts:

Donald Corry, Chief Juvenile Probation Officer, Chester County Juvenile Probation

John Hall, Judge, State of Pennsylvania

Michelle Harris-Alexander, Casework Supervisor II, Chester County Juvenile Probation

Renée Merion, Deputy District Attorney, County of Chester, Chester County District Attorney's Office

Shaneen Paskings, Program Coordinator, Pennsylvania DMC Youth and Law Enforcement Corporation

Lila Singleton, Executive Director; Community, Youth and Women's Alliance, Inc.

Rosa M. Stokes, Deputy Director of Programs Children, Youth and Families; Chester County Government

Anthony Stukes, LCSW, Stukes Counseling/Pearls Academy

Capstone Description:

The Chester County Team’s Capstone Project seeks to reduce the disproportionate number of youth of color referred to the Juvenile Probation Office from the Coatesville Area School District (CASD) through the utilization of restorative/conflict resolution strategies and diversionary practices.

2021 PA RED Lancaster County Team

Contacts:

John Bey, Chief of Police, Lancaster City

Erin Conahan, Coordinator of School, Family, & Community
Partnerships; School District of Lancaster

Lance Greene, Assistant District Attorney, Lancaster County District Attorney's Office (note: Mr. Greene is no longer in this position)

Joshua Hunter, Director, Community Action Partnership

Cheri Modene, Director, Lancaster County Juvenile Probation

Lisa Parker, Supermom & Volunteer, Crispus Attucks

Vanessa Philbert, CEO, Community Action Partnership of Lancaster

The Honorable David Workman, Administrative Judge Juvenile and Family Court, Pennsylvania Judiciary

Capstone Description:

The Lancaster County Team’s Capstone Project seeks to create a sustainable, community-inspired diversion program for youth in Lancaster through the implementation of the Prodigy program and the creation of an asset map to build a more aligned approach to serving youth in Lancaster.

2021 PA RED Lehigh County Team

Contacts:

Darian Colbert, Executive Director, Cohesion Network

Jeffrey Dimmig, Chief Deputy District Attorney, Lehigh County

Theresa Loder, Juvenile Court Hearing Officer, Lehigh County

Kevin Miller, Chief Juvenile Probation Officer, Lehigh County

Jessica Milton, Assistant Principal, William Allen High School

Shannon Semmel, Deputy Chief Juvenile Probation, Lehigh County

Courtney Wagaman, Executive Director, The IMPACT Project

Bill Williams, Sergeant, Allentown Police Department

Capstone Description:

The Lehigh County team seeks to review the decision-making processes and practices associated with determining whether a young person is given an opportunity at diversion or if they are scheduled for court and recommended to be adjudicated delinquent and placed on official probation. The team will work with the juvenile probation department, district attorney’s office, public school system and staff from the school justice panels (SJP)/community justice panels (CJP).

2021 PA RED Montgomery County Team

Contacts:

Angela Bell, Assistant District Attorney, Montgomery County District Attorney's Office

Scott Bendig, Chief of Police, Montgomery Township Police Department

The Honorable Christopher Cerski, Magisterial District Judge/Adjunct Professor of Law and Public Policy, Pennsylvania Judiciary/Arcadia University

Nicole El, Chief, Juvenile Unit, Montgomery County Public Defender

Sharon Giamporcaro, Deputy District Attorney, Chief of Juvenile Division, Office of the District Attorney

Alana Hook, Chief of Policy and Social Services, Montgomery County Public Defender

Stephanie Landes, Director of Supervision Services, Montgomery County Courts

Thomas Nolan, Chief of Police, Upper Merion Township Police

Capstone Description:

The Montgomery County Team seeks to reduce disparate minority contact within Montgomery County through expanded access and use of the Youth Aid Panel (YAP), which requires implementation of several systemic changes at Montgomery County Juvenile Court, Montgomery County Magisterial District Courts, and the Abington School District.

Capstone Update (2024):

The Montgomery County Team originally asked three school districts to implement a school-based Youth Aid Panel diversion program to reduce suspensions, expulsions, and referrals to law enforcement, especially for Black youth. The team current has five schools districts implementing the School YAP program in their high schools, and one district will be adding their three middle schools in January 2025. In the 2023-2024 school year, 97 youth were referred to the School YAP program across the county; 56 youth completed the program, and 21 remained in progress/pending at the end of the school year. In addition, in that school year, only one youth was arrested for a school-based offense, and all other youth were referred to YAP, case management, EBPs, or supportive services.

2021 PA RED Philadelphia County Team

Contacts:

Faustino Castro-Jimenez, Chief Probation Officer, First Judicial District of PA

Adara Combs, Supervisor of the Juvenile Division, Philadelphia District Attorney's Office

The Honorable Jonathan Irvine, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania

George Mosee, Executive Director, Philadelphia Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence Network

Benjamin Naish, Deputy Commissioner, City of Philadelphia

Lauren Shallow, Juvenile Probation Officer, PA First Judicial District

Alaya Tyler, Community Crisis Advocate, Philadelphia Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence Network

Gary Williams; Deputy Commissioner, Policy Development and System Enhancement; Acting Deputy Commissioner for Juvenile Justice Services; Philadelphia Department of Human Services

Capstone Description:

The Philadelphia Team seeks to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in front-end system involvement by implementing a pre-arrest/booking diversion program for youth apprehended in the community for misdemeanor behaviors. To do so, the Philadelphia team will build upon the Police School Diversion Program led by the Philadelphia Police Department in order to offer these additional diversion opportunities for youth.

2016 YIC Philadelphia Team

Contacts:

Deirdre Cummings, Lieutenant, City of Philadelphia

Stacey Holmes, Social Work Service Manager, City of Philadelphia

Lynn Johnson-Gleaton, Psychologist, City of Philadelphia

Claudette Martin, Deputy Warden, City of Philadelphia

Capstone Description:

To develop and implement an improved screening and assessment process for youth within the Philadelphia Prison System through:

1. Revisiting the use of the current screening tool, the unified Assessment Form (UAF).

2. Reviewing the Massachusetts Youth Screening Tool (MAYSI-2), the Youth Level of Service/ Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) and the CRAFFT as possible assessment tools to include within the youthful offender screening process. 

3. Integrating Trauma Empowerment and Recovery (TREM-A), life skills, drug counseling and other cognitive programming approaches into existing programming. 

4. Developing a peer group and family advisory board.

Capstone Update (2017):

The team created a handbook that is tailored to their youth population and addresses the unique needs of youth, including the use of restorative practices, staff training, assessment processes, and facility programming. Effective July 2017, the the Youthful Offender Screening Instrument (YOSI) incorporates CRAFFT, and MAYSI-2 is offered to 215 youth in Seeing Red, a psychoeducation group that explores topics related to anger, boundaries, decision-making, communication, and self-esteem. Additional programmings have also been developed to address youth's needs, such as OPTIONS (a substance use educational program), Fatherhood Enrichment, CPR (cognitive behavioral modification program), etc. As of fall 2017, a total of 325 youth have received services. As part of the team's Capstone Project, there has also been an increase in training for facility staff, particularly on restorative practices. A total of 68 restorative circles have taken place, which contributed to the decrease in the use of punitive segregation (from 45 occurrences in 2016 to 12 in 2017).

2015 YIC Philadelphia Participant 

Contact:

Sharon Smith, Social Work Service Manager, Philadelphia Prisons

Capstone Description:

Improve the assessment and services provided for youth in the Philadelphia Prison System through the implementation of MAYSI-2, family engagement, and identification of effective treatment services.

July 2012 MSI (Public) Philadelphia Participant 

Contact:

Rufus Lynch, President and Principal Investigator - Institute for the Advancement of Working Families

Capstone Description:

Introduce responsible fatherhood programming into Philadelphia's service array.

July 2011 MSI (Public) Philadelphia Team 

Contacts:

Anne Marie Ambrose, Commissioner - Philadelphia Department of Human Services

Kevin Dougherty, Administrative Judge, Family Court - Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts

Lori Dumas-Brooks, Judge, Family Court of Philadelphia - Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts

Timene Farlow, Deputy Commissioner, Juvenile Justice Services - Philadelphia Department of Human Services

Susan Kinnevy, Deputy Commissioner, Performance, Management and Accountability - Philadelphia Department of Human Services

Blondell Reynolds-Brown, Councilwoman at Large - Philadelphia City Council

Deszeree Thomas, Deputy Commissioner, Community Based Prevention Services - Philadelphia Department of Human Services

Roberta Trombetta, Chief Dependency Operations - Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts

Capstone Description:

Enhance the array of effective community based programs, educate judges and other stakeholders about their existence and efficacy, and encourage their use as alternative to placement for crossover youth.

2021 PA RED York County Team

Contacts:

Chris Batten, Officer, York County Police Department

April Billet, Chief Probation Officer, County of York

Amy Evans, Project Director, Community Action for Recovery and Diversion (CARD)

The Honorable Michael Flannelly, Judge, Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts

AliceAnne Frost; Executive Director; The PROGRAM, It's About Change

Stephanie Lombardo; Chief Deputy Prosecutor for Delinquency, Diversion, and Violence Prevention; York County District Attorney's Office

Joe Morales, Chief Opportunity Officer/Trainer, County of York, PA

Capstone Description: 

The York County Team’s Capstone Project seeks to reduce disproportionality of youth of color who are placed in secure detention by reviewing three years of detention data and case files, conducting peer/community-facilitated focus groups with previously detained youth and their families, and evaluating outcomes when youth are connected to Project Future Focus (PFF) in lieu of secure detainment both pre- and post-adjudication or when youth are returning from secure detention.

2010 MSI (Public) Pennsylvania Team (Multi-Sites throughout State)

Contacts:

Richard Gold, Deputy Secretary - Office of Children, Youth and Families

Karen Mallah, Director - Pennsylvania System of Care Partnership, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Keith Snyder, Deputy Director - Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges' Commission

Capstone Description:

Implement Systems of Care in counties around the state, including one in which they will implement High Fidelity Wraparound (HFW), while gathering data on impact.

2008 MSI CPI Allegheny & Philadelphia Counties Participant 

Contact:

Candace Putter, Director - Pennsylvania Academic and Career/Technical Training Project

Capstone Description:

Improve education in juvenile justice facilities and reentry, re: curriculum, training, education records, and partial/transfer credits.