On May 19th, Rhode Island for Community and Justice hosted a statewide gathering for Juvenile Hearing Board members and community stakeholders. The hybrid event welcomed chairs, coordinators, and members from Central Falls, Providence, Pawtucket, Johnston-Smithfield, Lincoln, North Smithfield, Warren, and Exeter. Also in attendance were representatives from the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Tides Family Services, Lifespan, the courts, and Family Care Community Partnerships (FCCPs).
The event's agenda included large-group presentations and time for unstructured conversation. Each topic was selected from suggestions made by JHB members who completed an input form prior to the statewide gathering.
Family Service of Rhode Island provided a short introduction to their free 8-hour training on Youth Mental Health First Aid, and the presentation sparked a robust conversation amongst attendees! The group discussed the role of Juvenile Hearing Boards when cases involve
youth mental health and, subsequently, how they should be handled. After the event, multiple JHB members decided to sign up for FSRI's full-day training. (Full-length trainings are held the first Friday of each month, or upon request.)
UniteRI staff also attended to discuss the organization, their network of providers, and how JHBs can utilize the online platform at no cost to manage caseloads and refer youth for sanctions. To close out the afternoon, attendees spent a short time discussing JHB policy and other general concerns.
A resource packet was also developed for the event and includes the following:
FSRI Youth Mental Health First Aid training flyer
Youth Diversion Referral Sheets
UniteRI guide and list of partners
Newly developed JHB referral criteria checklist
Sanction toolkit
RI JHB Manual from 2011
JHB Standards of Professionalism
If you'd like to view any of these resources, you can find the entire packet here.
Special thanks to the JHB members who offered input while planning the event! RICJ strives to plan gatherings that are relevant to attendees and inspire action. And thank you to everyone who attended the Spring 2023 JHB Statewide Gathering! Our Juvenile Justice Team looks forward to hosting future statewide events.
If you attended the statewide gathering, please provide feedback at this link to help RICJ improve future events!