Advocacy

September 23, 2011 Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy/The National Crittenton Foundation Public Policy Series

The third in this annual policy series, advocated gathered to discuss girls and young women involved with the juvenile justice system. The conversation focused on how to improve the juvenile justice system for girls and it was particularly for participants to hear about  efforts to drive systemic change at the state and local level. Under development is a strategic document that maps out a path forward for new states and localities to improve their juvenile justice systems for girls. In the meantime, visit our resources section for some materials on girls and juvenile justice.

June 2, 2011: Department of Justice Office of Violence Against Women Event

Shannon, Lisette, Breauna, Gabrielle Union, Ashley and Catherine

The Attorney General and the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women invited a group of young women from several Crittenton agencies across the country to share their stories and ideas and policy recommendations with the Attorney General’s National Advisory Committee (NAC), a group of national researchers, direct service providers, advocates and others dedicated to eliminating violence and trauma against women.

The young women from Crittenton agencies in North Carolina, District of Columbia, New York, Oregon and West Virginia opened the meeting as the morning panel presenting their experiences to the NAC member and the audience. Later they participated in smaller breakout discussion sessions in which NAC members were able to ask the young women about their views on what policies and practices need to be changed at the national and local levels to serve their needs better.  A special highlight for the young women was meeting advocate Gabrielle Union who is a member of NAC.

June 1, 2011: Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy/The National Crittenton Foundation Public Policy Series

The National Crittenton Foundation is partneringwith the Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy and the Rebecca Project for Human Rights to host a series of meetings to look at creating pathways to opportunity for marginalized girls. This initial gathering brought together a national advisory board of experts, including researchers, policy makers, direct service providers, attorneys and judges and Crittenton agencies to provide counsel on how to advocate for gender-specific, trauma-informed, culturally competent, strengths-based services in major upcoming policy efforts.  The first meeting in the policy series, Girls and Young Women in the Juvenile and Criminal Justice Systems, took take place Sept. 23, 2011 and will be followed with a December meeting focused on Young Mothers.

May 9, 2011: National Meeting on Young Mothers in Foster Care

More than 60 advocates, researchers, foundation representatives, Administration officials and Hill staff came together to talk about meeting the needs of young mothers in foster care.  Five young women from the Crittenton family of agencies in New York, Georgia, Kentucky, West Virginia and Oregon, shared their stories and participated in the day-long meeting.  Four agency executives from Tennessee, New York, Montana, and Kentucky
also shared what they are doing to provide a continuum of services for young mothers in foster care.

Three Senate Hill staffers came to listen and to hear what they could do support this population.  Ideas generated included collecting data and conducting research on this population across systems; seeking dedicated funding streams to support the young women regardless of which system they come from; and ensuring that efforts to reduce the over-reliance on residential treatment takes into account the unique needs and timeframes of this population. Read the paper>>