The Gang Reduction Initiative of Pine Bluff will host a youth violence community forum from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Aug. 2 at the Pine Bluff Convention Center. The community is invited attend.
Guest presenters will be youth violence experts John Tuell, executive director, and Michelle Darling, a senior program director and senior consultant, both of the Robert F. Kennedy National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice at the Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps; and Robert Bermingham, an independent consultant focusing on juvenile justice, according to a news release.
GRIP was organized in October. Members of the GRIP committee will also attend.
GRIP committee includes:
GRIP Chair, Jefferson County Sheriff Lafayette Woods Jr.; Sixth Division Juvenile Court Judge Earnest E. Brown Jr.; Sixth Division staff: Juawana Jackson, the Rev. Eric Walden Jr., Jeffrey Billingsley and Earnest Ingram; Pine Bluff Police Chief Denise Richardson; Pine Bluff School District Superintendent Barbara Warren; Watson Chapel School District Superintendent Tom Wilson; Go Forward Pine Bluff: Tommy May and Ryan Watley; Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter; Pine Bluff City Attorney Althea Hadden-Scott; First Division Circuit Judge Alex Guynn; Southeast Arkansas College President Steven Bloomberg; Pine Bluff Housing Authority Executive Director Jeannie Epperson; TOPPS Inc. Executive Director Annette Dove; United Family Services Executive Director Lekita Thomas; Jefferson County Department of Human Services: Angela Lopez, Area 7 director; Jefferson County Supervisor Kismich Youngblood; Jefferson Regional Medical Center: Wendy Talbot and Susie Powell; Adult Probation, Felicia Fisher; United Citizens of Pine Bluff, Kymara Seals; Community Partner Kelly Bryant; Southeast Arkansas Behavioral Health: Sherrie James and Bessie Lancelin; University of Arkansas at Little Rock Criminal Justice Department, Tusty Ten Bensel; University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Criminal Justice Department, Shurunda Thrower; and Pine Bluff Faith Based Community Leaders: Derick Easter, pastor of New St. Hurricane Missionary Baptist Church and Gary Bell, pastor of Pine Bluff First Assembly of God.
The guest speakers from Virginia and Delaware have a combined 98 years working in juvenile justice, according to the release.
Guest presenters
JOHN A. TUELL -- Tuell has worked with the RFK Community Alliance since 2009 where he launched the Robert F. Kennedy National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice in December 2013. The center focuses on practice and policy reform through an active commitment to partnerships with local, state and federal agencies dedicated to improving the lives of youth. Tuell has provided direct service in the Fairfax County, Va., Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court (1979-1996). He also served in the U.S. Department of Justice with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (1996-2001), and created and oversaw the Juvenile Justice Division at the Child Welfare League of America (2001-2009.) He earned his bachelor's degree in social work degree from James Madison University and his Master of Arts degree in criminal justice from George Washington University.
MICHELLE DARLING -- Darling received her bachelor's degree in criminal justice from the University of Delaware. As the chief of juvenile probation for Delaware, overseeing diversion through reentry, she integrated the concepts of evidence-based decision-making into everyday practices and interactions with youth and families.
Darling addressed the needs of dual status youth involved with juvenile justice and child welfare by developing protocols to prioritize planning to address a youth's immediate needs. She led the first quality assurance unit for juvenile probation in Delaware.
Through her qualitative analysis, detention populations and caseload sizes decreased as she focused on reducing technical violations for youth through a graduated response process.
She expanded the risk and needs assessment to include a trauma screening, implemented processes to evaluate service delivery using standardized protocols, incorporated data to inform decision-making, and served as business analyst for the development of a new system of records for juvenile probation, according to the release.
ROBERT BERMINGHAM -- Bermingham has a master's degree in public administration. Prior to his retirement in January, Bermingham spent 35 years working in juvenile justice. He held management positions with probation services, served as the county's first gang prevention coordinator and from 2009 until his retirement, he was the court service unit director of the Commonwealth of Virginia's largest court service unit. He successfully led the 350 person unit through significant transformation in practices to include the redesign of juvenile intake services, the implementation of assessment tools at major decision points within the system, implementation of a county and regionwide gang prevention and intervention model, enhanced diversion alternatives, deployment of evidence-based interventions along with a focus on reducing racial and ethnic disparities, and family engagement. Bermingham is dedicated to providing juvenile justice services that build on individual and family strengths to improve client outcomes while remaining focused on public safety and promoting equitable and effective justice, according to the release.