Webinars on Family-Engaged Case Planning in Youth Probation

A webi­nar series helps juve­nile pro­ba­tion staff and lead­ers imple­ment a fam­i­ly-engaged case plan­ning mod­el in youth pro­ba­tion. Through this mod­el, pro­ba­tion offi­cers work in part­ner­ship with young peo­ple and their fam­i­lies to craft indi­vid­u­al­ized goals for the young person’s time on probation.

Pre­sent­ed by the Harley Con­sult­ing Group, with fund­ing from the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion, speak­ers shared their expe­ri­ences of youth pro­ba­tion as youth with direct expe­ri­ence of pro­ba­tion, advo­cates, par­ents and sys­tem professionals.

“Part­ner­ing with fam­i­lies is not just the right thing to do, it is the more effec­tive way of strength­en­ing our abil­i­ty to stand togeth­er in sup­port of our youth,” said Jean­nette Bocane­gra-Simon, exec­u­tive direc­tor of Jus­tice for Fam­i­lies. Dur­ing the July 16 ses­sion, she dis­cussed her expe­ri­ences as both an advo­cate for youth jus­tice reform and the moth­er of a young per­son with past involve­ment in the youth jus­tice system.

Learn more about trans­form­ing youth probation

What Do the Case-Plan­ning Webi­na­rs Cover?

Part 1, on July 16, explored the impor­tance of focus­ing on rela­tion­ship-build­ing dur­ing the ini­tial stage of pro­ba­tion. Atten­dees learned what ​“meet­ing peo­ple where they are” looks like in prac­tice, includ­ing how to plan for the young person’s safe­ty and imme­di­ate needs.

Part 2, on Aug. 27, delved into how to cre­ate indi­vid­u­al­ized goals for young people’s time on pro­ba­tion. These goals should build on the young person’s strengths and inter­ests in ways that pro­mote mean­ing­ful growth and accountability.

Youth Pro­ba­tion Webi­nar Series Details

Part 1: The Fam­i­ly Engage­ment Con­tin­u­um With­in Case Plan­ning
Pre­sen­ters:

• Ana Bermúdez, for­mer com­mis­sion­er, New York City Depart­ment of Probation 
• Jean­nette Bocane­gra-Simon, exec­u­tive direc­tor, Jus­tice for Families
• Mir­a­cle Te’o, cofounder, San­ta Clara Coun­ty Youth Advi­so­ry Council

Part 2: Cen­ter­ing Pos­i­tive Youth Devel­op­ment in the Case Plan­ning Process
Pre­sen­ters:

• Ana Bermúdez, for­mer com­mis­sion­er, New York City Depart­ment of Probation
• Stu­art Berry, for­mer juve­nile court admin­is­tra­tor in two Ohio coun­ties, Delaware and Logan 
• Mir­a­cle Te’o, cofounder, San­ta Clara Coun­ty Youth Advi­so­ry Council

Read the prac­tice guide to fam­i­ly-engaged case plan­ning in youth probation