Systems Thinking and Juvenile Justice Systems Reform

[Announcement from SCRA-L]

March 2017 20 Years of Using Knowledge to Promote Social Change David M. Chavis, Ph.D. Principal Associate/CEO 2017 marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of Community Science, originally known as the Association for the Study and Development of Community (ASDC). ASDC emerged as a place where social change professionals could come to focus on "creating healthy, just, and equitable communities." The promotion of healthy, just, and equitable communities has been a central part of Community Science from the very first day. Kien Lee joined me in forming ASDC, first in a small study in my home and then graduating into our basement. We grew to five people in our basement-to the dismay of our children. When my wife would bake cookies and other treats for our young children, staff would get a whiff of her cooking and instant message me to see if I could bring anything down for them to eat.  Read More Using Systemic Thinking to Transform Juvenile Justice in the United States Seeing the problem. The juvenile justice system in the United States is intended to reduce crime and increase public safety while holding youth accountable for their actions. However, for the last three decades the system has focused more on punishing young people, processing them in the formal court system, and confining youth in large, prison-like facilities, sometimes with adults, at an annual per-youth cost of $149,000. Data on public safety outcomes has shown that the use of harsh punishment, such as incarceration, has not been effective in supporting youth rehabilitation, education, or development.  Read More SPOTLIGHT ON:  Models for Change Legacy Phase In the 1980s, juvenile justice systems in the United States began adopting more punitive, adult-oriented approaches to juvenile justice. Since 1996, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (the Foundation) has been working to correct these trends through grant making activities supporting research, program innovation, and systems and policy change. To work effectively in a complex juvenile justice landscape, the Foundation has used multiple reform approaches suitable for a range of state and local conditions. Read More Interviews with Notable Contributors in the Development of Community Science Ricardo Millett Ph.D., Principal Associate In celebrating our 20th anniversary, we have decided to commemorate those people that have been major contributors to the mission success of Community Science by conducting interviews detailing their contributions. The first staff member in the series will be Ricardo Millett, current Principal Associate at Community Science and former President of The Woods Fund in Chicago. While working for the Fund, Ricardo developed and implemented a strategic grant making plan that responded to the needs of Chicago's least advantaged. Dr. Millett also worked for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation as the Director of Program Evaluation where he focused on building greater communication and collaboration between evaluation and program staff to maximize the use of evaluation as an integral part of programming. Ricardo was interviewed by Research Assistant, Nour Elshabassi. Click here for the interview Community Science Gives Back! Part of Community Science's mission is to directly give back to the local and national community. In 2016 donations were made to the list of organizations noted below. Charitable giving along with two days of service annually are among the many ways Community Science works "to strengthen the science and practice of community change in order to build healthy, just and equitable communities." Each Community Science staff member gets to recommend a charity for the organization to make a donation on their behalf as their "holiday gift." Five percent of Community Science's annual profits were donated, the maximum amount allowed by the IRS.  Click here to learn more Staff Profile: Peter York Peter York,  MSSA, Principal Associate, has over 20 years of experience as a consultant and researcher in the evaluation and nonprofit fields, as well as a national spokesperson for social impact and impact measurement issues. He has designed and led numerous research and evaluation studies with private philanthropies, corporations, nonprofit organizations and government agencies; examples include: the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, Gap, Inc., the Philadelphia Zoo, the David & Lucille Packard Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, the California Endowment, the Center for Employment Opportunities, Camp Fire USA, YMCA of the USA, etc.  He has authored book chapters, academic and professional articles, and a book on the topic of evaluation for philanthropists -  "Funder's Guide to Evaluation: Leveraging Evaluation to Improve Nonprofit Effectiveness". Click here to read more In This Issue 20 Years of Using Knowledge to Promote Social Change Using Systemic Thinking to Transform Juvenile Justice in the United States Spotlight On: Models for Change Legacy Phase Interviews With Notable Contributors in the Development of Community Science Community Science Gives Back! Staff Profile ANNOUNCEMENT! Community Science, along with other organizations under the leadership of Bridging Health & Community, will be holding the  Community Agency and Health Symposium: How Community Organizations Can Be More Effective in Promoting Health on May 15-16 in Oakland, CA. Click here for additional information About Community Science Community Science is an award winning research and development organization that works with governments, foundations, and non-profit organizations on solutions to social problems through community and other systems changes. To learn more, visit our PROJECTS page.  To discuss how Community Science can assist your organization in learning how to have a greater impact, contact us at (301) 519-0722 or info@communityscience.com Join Us! We are always eager to know about professionals who have experience in producing community and systems change work of the highest quality and who want to make a difference in this world. We are currently recruiting for the following positions: Analyst (Washington, DC)   Senior Associate (Washington, DC) Suggested Reading Material:  Ison, R. (2010) Systems practice: How to act in a climate-change world. 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