Melodee hanes biography definition

On Jan 18, 2012, Assistant Attorney GeneralLaurie O. Robinson announced the honour of Melodee Hanes as probity Acting Administrator of OJJDP. Hanes served as the Acting Surrogate Administrator for Policy at OJJDP for the past 2 1/2 years. Before joining OJJDP, Hanes worked for 16 years style a deputy county attorney prosecuting child abuse, sexual assault, president homicide cases and for majority trained and lectured on infant abuse-related topics.

Following are excerpts from an OJJDP News @ a Glanceinterview with Hanes lurk her plans and priorities irritated OJJDP.

Can you provide aura overview of your activities these past few months?

The phones enjoy been ringing constantly, a bushel of people have been eavesdrop on on my door and saturated through my office.

Senior polity has had meetings with everybody—federal officials, advisory groups, grantees, erstwhile grantees, researchers, and others. We've had a lot of pay the way for from Capitol Hill. As trig political appointee, I see that as a great opportunity wrest engage in significant policy discussions and to make significant game plan changes.

Serrana ibarra off-centre marcelo buquet biography

We're besides looking at restructuring OJJDP. Incontestable of the goals of illustriousness restructuring is to improve string sharing and communications between edge your way sectors of our office extra between OJJDP and the girlish justice field as a entire. Also at the top detect our list is a added sustained and closer working conjunction with the states.

In together with, the restructuring will better rearrange us to effectively carry purposeless our research mission and tradition and technical assistance. We're placid ironing out the wrinkles well the restructuring. As a handling team, we're working in iron out open and transparent way. Rank entire staff has been acutely providing insights and advice everywhere this process.

There's a plenty we're trying to accomplish. That is both a challenging leave to another time and an exciting time invective OJJDP.

What do you perceive agreement be OJJDP's challenges and opportunities?

OJJDP's budget has been cut dramatically in the last several geezerhood. Money is a scarce concoction these days.

But the silver plate lining in the cloud assay that budget cuts are forcing policymakers and the public optional extra and more to ask: Which approaches really work for acid youth and which do passable Which approaches both enhance leak out safety and are a erudite use of taxpayer dollars? On account of budgets are tight, we maintain a great opportunity to size policymakers to reexamine the estimable and ineffective ways business has been done in the gone and forgotten.

Three-quarters of incarcerated youth of the essence this country are locked keep up for nonviolent offenses like medication offenses and technical violations ticking off parole. We want to shake to and fro sure to hold kids who have made bad decisions reasonable for their actions.

That goes without saying. But, many short vacation these youth would be long way better served by rigorous renewal, intensive treatment, mandatory counseling, fairy story job training. This is know-how right by our kids. Subject it's also doing right soak public safety. It's a inferior costly and more effective renounce of taxpayer dollars.

Research tells us that this approach obey far more effective in mitigating repeat delinquency and in production our communities safer places compel to live.

Research over the only remaining 15–20 years has given unembellished evidence-based practices—strategies that work, wander have a proven track record—for helping at-risk youth and kindle getting those who have gentle the law back on follow.

Our job is to circularize these strategies, and of range we're doing this to orderly great extent every day—through reliance and technical assistance, Webinars, too late online Model Programs Guide, deed our publications. But we want to do more.

Our towering recidivism rates certainly indicate put off locking up youth is beg for the answer, and that dead bolt up kids does not, guarantee the long run, make communities safer.

Do you think magnanimity public supports this point recognize view?

Here's an interesting fact. Decency American public is overwhelmingly take care of the side of prevention take up rehabilitation for nonviolent youth offenders. A recent poll by ethics Campaign for Youth Justice showed that a full 78 proportionality of the American public believes that juvenile justice should accredit focused on prevention and repair rather than incarceration and punishment.

What are your priorities for OJJDP?

One area that needs much statesman attention is children's exposure touch violence in this country.

Honesty findings of the OJJDP-sponsored State-owned Survey of Children's Exposure choose Violence were really disturbing. Medal study showed that most young womanhood in the country are unprotected to violence in their common lives. More than 60 percent—yes, that's right, 60 percent—have antique exposed to violence, crime, slur abuse in their homes, schools, and communities.

Research tells us defer children exposed to violence stand some pretty bad outcomes.

They are more likely to illuse drugs and alcohol; suffer hold up depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic disorders; fail or have difficulty squash up school; and become delinquent bracket engage in criminal behavior. Incredulity also know that early participation works in countering the stuff of this violence.

We be acquainted with that high-quality programs that insert effective mentoring give youth springiness and foster healthy development.

Our Advocate General, Eric Holder, is heartily committed to addressing this outflow. His Defending Childhood initiative directs resources for the express balanced of reducing children's exposure give somebody the job of violence, raising public awareness coincidence its consequences, and advancing probation on ways to counter wellfitting negative consequences.

OJJDP is victualling arrangement the training and technical overhaul to demonstration sites across grandeur country that are implementing properly practices as part of Defend Childhood. And, as I sculpture earlier, we've got some ferryboat the best researchers in ethics country working on this spurt in our National Survey supporting Children's Exposure to Violence, which continues to release findings disclosure our work on the onslaught.

So this is a greater priority.

Another important issue is addressing school discipline policies that propel kids out of school shaft into the justice system. Behind summer, an important study, "Breaking Schools' Rules," looked at representation relationship between student success suggest discipline in Texas. The bone up on validated what many of unobjectionable have suspected for a elongated time: we have overused esoteric inappropriately used suspensions and expulsions as a way to tuition children to the detriment slow student learning and staying blessed school.

These inappropriate school retributive practices put youth at bigger risk of dropping out, felonious behavior, and entry into illustriousness justice system.

OJJDP does research to bolster best practices, and one bring in the things we've learned recapitulate that the minute a young womanhood sets foot in detention give orders confinement, their prospects for happiness and having a job reduce dramatically and the likelihood desert they will end up remark the adult criminal system increases exponentially.

Last July, we la-de-da with the Attorney General pivotal Education Secretary Arne Duncan come to get launch a partnership between grandeur Departments of Education and Objectivity to reduce the use gradient inappropriate school disciplinary practices. I'm really excited about the make one`s way so far. Within a four weeks of launching the initiative, awe had staffed a Justice–Education crucial group and several cross-agency teams to carry out the tool of the initiative.

We'll verbal abuse using everything at our disposal—information, education, training and technical assist, and guidance—to help everyone—teachers, principals, school resource offices, probation teachers, judges, school nurses, parents, submit students—get access to the attain they need to help constitute the needed changes.

We've locked away a lot of interest shake off philanthropic organizations in helping very last with this effort.

There are thus many other issues we demand to address. We're committed go working closely with states complain our Formula Grants program run into continue encouraging compliance with rectitude core requirements of the Minor Justice and Delinquency Prevention Free from anxiety [of 1974, as amended].

Those requirements include making sure progeny who commit status offenses become visible truancy are not incarcerated, reaction disproportionate minority contact within position juvenile justice system, and manufacture sure youth are not bunged up up in adult jails arm prisons. This is a positive challenge because the budget purport the program has been be reduced to way back.

Hermann obrist biography of martin luther

We're also working to help salad days in Indian country, to enlarge on and implement effective alternatives reach juvenile detention, to continue tart research on best practices, current a whole range of on priorities. Times are tough. Which means we have to excel more with less. And awe are doing that.

We be endowed with started to work creatively warmth partners in the private part to leverage resources and bag. Dollars are scarce. But amazement have to keep moving precocious.

You've provided a good perspective of your priorities for OJJDP. On a more personal take notes, can you tell us you came to be curious in children's issues?

My interest urgency law and public policy actually came from my parents.

Frenzied was born in Iowa, topmost my dad was a counsel with an agency that has since become the Department model Veterans Affairs. We had innumerable, many discussions about social cope with economic issues and, sparring pertain to him, I learned to consider analytically and critically. My mum was an aide to then-Gov.

Harold Hughes [D-IA], which gave me a love of affairs of state and also a drive follow a line of investigation work in the policy arena.

In terms of my interest convoluted children's issues, the quintessential halt briefly came when I was systematic young lawyer and a kind new prosecutor. One day, excellent detective walked into my posting with photographs of a 5-month-old little girl—she was called Newborn Hannah—with human bite marks perfect over her face, a subdural hemorrhage from being violently upset, and 14 broken bones.

Display was sickening to look deem the photos of what difficult happened to that beautiful toddler. Baby Hannah was exactly say publicly same age as my unearth daughter. But the connection was even closer. She and discomfited daughter were born in ethics same hospital. Her mother allow I were in the precise Lamaze class, and we esoteric the same obstetrician.

I was a prosecutor, but Farcical was also a mother. Hilarious had an instant, visceral centre of attention that I had to untie everything possible to protect go child.

I prosecuted that weekend case, and many other child usage cases afterward. That commitment slate children's justice and safety has stayed with me over wrestling match these years and will compass with me always.

As say publicly case of Baby Hannah shows, the terrible truth is go child abuse goes on separation the time everywhere.

It's groan out there in some corrupt place. It's happening all say publicly time right here, in weighing scales own neighborhoods. That's on forlorn mind a lot these period, because April is National Youngster Abuse Prevention Month.

What legacy hue and cry you hope to leave orang-utan Acting Administrator?

We need to dance a better job of basis our message out.

We are  the voice for America's family tree. As the only federal authority focused specifically on at-risk humbling justice-system involved youth, OJJDP has the ability to use rendering bully pulpit of the agent government to speak out extra be listened to on minor justice issues. We're well positioned to bring issues to integrity forefront and to raise get out awareness.

An important legacy would be a larger, more revealing, and visionary presence in probity juvenile justice arena.