“Where systems and providers come together to serve YOUth”
For the latest training opportunities, committee meeting times, and news, please see our latest update: Weekly Updates
Click here for Printable JJPF Large Group Forum Description/ Invitation

Upcoming Events-

National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts
The Nebraska Supreme Court together with the Nebraska State Bar Association will be hosting the 24th Annual Conference of the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts on May 9-12, 2012 in Omaha at the Hilton Hotel.

Click here for a full description of the program.
Click here to register.


JJPF History and Priority Areas

Priority Areas for the 2009 - 2011 years include:

1. Increase awareness of truancy and decrease its incidence through a combined effort of the schools, service providers, and law enforcement. 
2. Improve families' ability to access assessments and services prior to formal action being taken against a youth or family. 
3. Develop appropriate mental health interventions for juveniles in Douglas County.
4. Create and implement programming to support juveniles' successful re-integration with family, school, and community following formal interventions.
5. Create a juvenile justice forum to regularly meet to network, report on local programming efforts, discuss grant applications, and serve as a catalyst for the community.
6. Reduce the over-representation of minorities within the juvenile justice system. 
7. Reduce the overall incidence of youth-violence in the community.

The Juvenile Justice and Provider Forum (JJPF) was created to address #5.  Although the JJPF serves as an information exchange, the Committees are actually working on specific initiative areas.

As you can see by reviewing the priorities, only #6 (DMC) is exclusive to “justice” involved youth, with #4 (Re-Integration) including justice and HHS kids, as well as other youth experiencing life-changing events.  ALL priority areas really are focused on OVERALL youth needs throughout the County and Metro Area.

The JJPF approached existing committees who were already addressing Truancy (#1) and DMC (#6) issues to ask if they would report on their efforts at the Forum.  For the remaining areas, no single group focusing specifically on these areas could be identified.  Therefore, JJPF chairs solicited volunteers to establish cohesive and targeted groups for these areas (or to link groups together in the interest of efficiency and not duplicating efforts).  These include #4 (Re-Integration) and #7 (Youth Violence).

The Adolescent Behavioral Health Committee (Initially called JJPF-Juvenile Mental Health) was formed in December 2006 as a result of those efforts.  At the initial meetings, the Committee decided to combine and address both #s 2 & 3, as there was so much overlap involved in the subject areas, as well as attendees’ interests in both areas.

The many initiatives, community activities, and data points listed in the full report exemplify the overwhelming needs of the community related to these juvenile issues, as well as the overarching focus of:

• a community passionate about making positive changes in the lives of youth and families
• a great willing to collaborate toward those means
• the need to continue growth and focus in these areas where so much momentum is already in place