Juvenile Probation Chiefs to Visit Pierce County, Washington

Fif­teen par­tic­i­pants have been select­ed to vis­it the Amer­i­can Pro­ba­tion and Parole Asso­ci­a­tion and learn about trans­form­ing pro­ba­tion from peers and com­mu­ni­ty part­ners in Wash­ing­ton State’s Pierce Coun­ty — home to Taco­ma. The juve­nile pro­ba­tion chiefs, deputy chiefs and oth­er lead­ers include:

• Melanie Bren­nan, Guam Depart­ment of Youth Affairs
• Cory Burgess, Travis Coun­ty, Texas, Juve­nile Pro­ba­tion Department
• Antho­ny Celes­tine, Cal­casieu Parish, Louisiana, Office of Juve­nile Jus­tice Services
• Julie Childers, Dal­las Coun­ty, Texas, Juve­nile Pro­ba­tion Services
• Brandy Coltel­laro, Alas­ka Divi­sion of Juve­nile Justice
• Melis­sa Fer­nan­dez, Wayne Coun­ty, Michi­gan, Juve­nile and Youth Services
• Derek Getic, Mary­land Depart­ment of Juve­nile Services
• Kel­ly Gray, Met­ro­pol­i­tan Nashville and David­son Coun­ty, Ten­nessee, Juve­nile Court
• Joshua Hazel­rigg, Greene Coun­ty, Ohio, Pro­ba­tion Services
• Daniel Her­nan­dez, Orange Coun­ty, Cal­i­for­nia, Probation
• Elisa Judy, River­side Coun­ty, Cal­i­for­nia, Probation
• Steve Labonte, Maine Juve­nile Com­mu­ni­ty Corrections
• Blake Mur­doch, Utah Juve­nile Court
• Scott Sny­der, Ononda­ga Coun­ty, New York, Pro­ba­tion Department
• Christo­pher Wright, River­side Coun­ty, Cal­i­for­nia, Probation

The vis­it is offered at no cost to atten­dees thanks to the association’s part­ner­ship with the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Antic­i­pat­ed Site Vis­it Results

• Inter­act with and learn from the peo­ple behind reform efforts in Pierce Coun­ty, includ­ing com­mu­ni­ty partners.
• Under­stand how and why the court con­tin­ues to expand and strength­en com­mu­ni­ty part­ner­ships in ser­vice of results.
• Appre­ci­ate the court’s orga­ni­za­tion­al cul­ture trans­for­ma­tion and the role cul­ture change plays in sys­tems inno­va­tion and accel­er­at­ed results.

“Site vis­its ener­gize and equip lead­ers with knowl­edge to boost their own efforts and expand their think­ing on how to do bet­ter for young peo­ple,” said Opal West, a senior asso­ciate with the Foundation.

Trav­el and Vis­it Logistics

The vis­it will be from Tues­day, Dec. 10, to Wednes­day, Dec. 11, with the expec­ta­tion that par­tic­i­pants will arrive on Dec. 9 and depart late after­noon Dec. 11. The Casey Foun­da­tion will fund all trip-relat­ed expens­es, includ­ing trav­el to and from Pierce Coun­ty, meals, lodg­ing and materials.

Why Pierce Coun­ty Is a Pro­ba­tion Leader

Pierce County’s juve­nile court demon­strates that most youth who get in trou­ble with the law can get back on track with­out any lev­el of incar­cer­a­tion or jus­tice involve­ment. Deploy­ing strate­gies root­ed in Casey’s vision for trans­form­ing juve­nile pro­ba­tion, the coun­ty offers an exam­ple of what is pos­si­ble when youth jus­tice sys­tems build strong com­mu­ni­ty part­ner­ships and pur­sue changes designed to max­i­mize con­nec­tions and oppor­tu­ni­ties for young peo­ple to become suc­cess­ful adults.

Read more about youth jus­tice reform in Pierce County:

• Pierce Coun­ty Youth Pro­ba­tion: Few Youth Need Out-of-Home Placement
• Pierce Coun­ty: Trail­blaz­er for Pro­ba­tion Transformation
• Spot­light Video on Pos­i­tive Youth Devel­op­ment in Pierce County
• Incen­tives Inspire Pos­i­tive Behav­ior Change in Youth on Probation