March 2019

MARCH 2019 | ISSUE 2 Happy Spring! THE #KYDJJ DIGEST BI-MONTHLY NEWS, UPDATES, AND INFORMATION WELCOMING THE NEWEST DEPUTY Welcome // 1 COMMISSIONER, SCOTT WHITAKER 100th Graduation // 2 Legislative Update // 3 After being appointed on a special detail assignment, Community Updates // 3 Scott Whitaker has taken over as the Deputy From the Desk of // 3 Commissioner of Support Services. He was appointed to Birthdays // 4 this position in March and has hit the ground running. Facility Updates // 4 - 6 For those who do not know, Scott started his career with To Brighten Your Day // 7 DJJ in 2007. After working for a few years, he was promoted to the Fiscal Branch Manager in Central Office. Then, in 2016, DC Whitaker was asked to serve as the Director of Administrative Services where has oversaw fiscal, human resources, grants, capital construction and properties, and information systems. Now, as Deputy Commissioner he will be in charge of three divisions within DJJ. To learn more about Deputy Whitaker, click here to head to the DJJ website, or head to the DJJ Facebook page and see his #WhatsHappeningWednesday introduction. Give us a like and follow while you are there!

TRAINING BRANCH CELEBRATES 100 YOUTH WORKER GRADUATIONS When you get to 100 of something, there is a reason to celebrate! Since 1996, the Division of Professional Development-Training Branch has set a standard for all of it's direct care front line staff employees: provide quality training. There has been a commitment to train the policies & to provide evidence-based training to the individuals in academy since the inception of the Training Branch. The Juvenile Justice Training Academy has accomplished many milestones in the last 100 academies whether the training took place on the Eastern Kentucky University campus, Lincoln Village campus Training Center or the Louisville campus. The Division of Professional Development-Training Branch has gone through several transformations culminating in the successful initial American Corrections Association Accreditation back in 2012 and has maintained that excellence to this date. \"On 1 March all of the wonderful Academy staff, In-Service training staff & alums of the Training Branch were able to see the fruits of our labor. We celebrated in the successful graduation of our 100th Youth Worker Basic Training Academy which produced twenty-six new Youth Workers. As we march towards the next 100, we are truly grateful for the Department of Juvenile Justice’s continued support of training by providing us the foundation of SAFETY, SECURITY, SUPERVISION, STANDARDS & SERVICE for the youth we serve. We will continue to be diligent in training the best Youth Workers & department staff.\" - Training Academy Administrative Branch Manager, William A. Campbell TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK

LEGISLATIVE SESSION 2019 - WHAT'S GOING ON IN UPDATES THE COMMUNITY? The 2019 legislative session is near its official end Congratulations to Terri Willis on her recent following the Governor's veto days. These are days promotion to Juvenile Services District when he can veto any of the bills that were passed Supervisor in Jefferson County. Mrs. Willis by the legislature this session. Bills that are of graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma State note to DJJ include Senate Bill 1 which addresses University with a BA in Sociology/concentration school safety and security. This bill was signed by in Social Work. She worked at Texas Mental the Governor, and it's recommendations will be put Health Rehabilitation Facility for 6 months and into law. Senate Bill 57 is another bill to pay then at Jim Taliaferro Mental Health for 6 years attention to. This bill allows for the expungement as a home based worker. She began her career of certain Class D felonies with a 10-year waiting with the State in 1996. She worked at Cardinal period. This bill has been delivered to the Treatment Center as a youth worker and then Governor's desk and is awaiting his signature. was promoted to a counselor. After three years, Senate Bill 20 was the bill that included a data she transferred to the community as a JIST collection piece for certain agencies that involve worker, transitioned to an Intensive Aftercare juvenile justice, as well as, the inclusion of a worker and was JSS for team C1B then with team minimum age of criminality, a competency C1C. element for youth in the court process, and the establishment of a 10-day court review for youth Thank you, Terri, for your hard work! To see in detention. It did not pass this session. more on Terri, visit the #KYDJJ Facebook page! FROM THE DESK OF THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER - PROGRAM SERVICES EDITION: Hey Team, For those of you who I may have not gotten the privilege to meet yet, I am Kris Mann. I serve as the Deputy Commissioner of Operations/ Program Services with the Department. I love this job, who I do it for, and who I do it with. I have been blessed to work in the DJJ since 2001. When I first started out, I was a direct care staff, and over the course of nearly 18 years I have gotten to serve in many different capacities all leading to me where I am today. My absolute favorite part about being the Deputy Commissioner of Operations is that I know when I am coming into the office each day, I am tasked with helping trouble youth while, at the same time, keeping the citizens of our Commonwealth safe. This is certainly not a job that I take lightly. It has been a fun 18 years, and I cannot wait to see how the Department continues to progress, grow, and change lives. I am currently working on the Children’s Center for Law and Policy detention reform that the DJJ has been tasked with. I am actively working to find ways to reduce isolation in youth facilities, and I am working with a team on the Second Changes Act grant that will help to fund efforts that will bring life-changing, evidence-based treatment interventions to our youth in YDCs and Group Homes. In my free time, I enjoy crappie fishing. I am an avid tournament fisherman and have won many awards throughout my years of competing. My dad, Terry, and I are back-to-back reigning National Points Champions on the Crappie USA Tournament Trail. I am super proud of that title, and I love that this sport allows me to spend quality time with my dad because family is incredibly important to me. Aside from fishing, I am active in ministry projects with my church. I am blessed to have been a part of 10 different foreign mission trips, including one this past December. As the Deputy Commissioner, I am so grateful for the team that we have serving our youth. Whether it is in the community or any of the facilities, I am proud to work with people who are dedicated to changing lives in youth while promoting safety in Kentucky.

CHECK OUT WHAT OUR FACILITIES ARE DOING! PHOTO BY MARTIN R. SMITH These beautiful hand-crafted flags were made in Carpentry class by a Westport Group Home resident/Louisville Day student. The flags were made to memorialize two recent Kentucky fallen officers. The first flag (294) is for Detective Deidre Mengedoht. She was killed on December 24,2018 when her patrol car was struck by an impaired driver while conducting a traffic stop on I-64 in downtown Louisville. The second flag (550) was made in honor of Charlestown, Indiana K-9 officer Sgt. Ben Bertram was killed on December 12, 2018 in a crash during a police chase. The flags will be gifts to the families of the fallen officers. Young ladies from the Morehead Youth Development Center had the opportunity to attend the FBLA Conference at Morehead State University on March 6th. One of the Morehead participants finished in 3rd place. Since she finished in a top-tiered position, this youth is now qualified to participate in the State-Wide FBLA Competition. Another student with the Morehead YDC group was also asked to participate at the state level. The competition will be held April 15-17 in Louisville. The two young ladies will be competing at the state- level FBLA competition thanks to the work of Morehead YDC staff members. Congratulations to Morehead YDC and good luck to these young ladies! WISHING A HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU Don Cabanilla 1/25 Carey Alexander 2/12 Phillip New 3-1 Leslie Hughes Burgess 2/3 Lashana Harris 2/14 Hillary Truesdell 3-5 John Fitzpatrick 2/16 Tabitha Hobbs 2/4 Jennifer Plummer 2/19 Sara Redfield 3-9 Kraig McWhorter 2/4 Lisa Thompson 3-11 Eddie Winn 2-21 Walter Wright 3-11 Pamela Blevins 2/5 Daniel Penick 2/23 Cynthia Watson 3-17 Traci Hudson 2/9 Sara Young 2-24 Carey Alexander 2/12 Kristie Stivers 2/26 Scott Alford 3-21 Teresa Wolcott 2/12 Capella McFarland 3/23

Ms. Amanda Miller, English teacher at the Owensboro Day Treatment Center, created a wall display and worked with her students to create door art with their favorite books. This was all part of the Unbound reading contest that is put on by the Center for Educational Excellence in Alternative Settings (CEEAS). Unbound is a month-long readathon for students in secure settings that took place February 4 - March 1. After reading, the students have the opportunity to write a review for the books they read. CEEAS believes it is critical for students in secure facilities to explore the power of reading at every opportunity; to read for pleasure, not just for a grade; and to develop the habit of reading. The Unbound readathon provides a framework and incentives to increase students’ engagement with books. Way to go Owensboro Day Treatment and Ms. Miller. Amazing work promoting literacy while making it fun and creative for the youth that we serve! “There is no such thing as a child who hates to read; there are only children who have not found the right book.”  ― Frank Serafini

The first formal dance that Morehead Youth Development Center had was in 2000. The recreation leader has always been in charge of planning the dance, and it is a huge hit with the youth. When the YDC first started having the dances, it was called the MYDC Spring Formal. Back then, the dresses were donated or purchased from consignment for our girls to wear, and the young men from CLEP would attend and wear their dress uniforms. A few years later, Morehead YDC started working with Cinderella’s Closet. Cinderella's Closet provides formal wear to girls who could not otherwise afford to attend their prom. Now, the girls get a day to go to Cinderella's Closet and choose their dress. Nearly everyone at MYDC will help with the dance in one way or another. This year Mrs. Sallie Bolten was kind enough to donate wrist corsages for all of the young ladies. Ms. Bolten attended Cinderella’s Closet and matched the flowers to each dress. Ms. Tammy Gilliam is our current recreation leader and has decorated and prepared for many dances over the years. For the past several years, Regina Oppenheimer has been the photographer for the event. She takes pictures of the girls at the dance for them to share with their families. Since some of the residents will not be able to attend their high school proms, the name was changed from the Spring formal to MYDC Prom to give them that opportunity. This year, Woodsbend YDC bought their young men to attend the dance with the girls.

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