Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Meeting

Subcommittee on Policy 

Overview

The Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Policy 

Subcommittee has met two times since the last full Coordinating Council meeting on September 

19, 2023. Monthly meetings were held on October 19 and November 16. The committee includes 

a total of fifteen members representing six federal agencies and five practitioners from the field.

During the committee’s two most recent meetings, members examined statutory language 

focusing on the goals of the Coordinating Council and prioritized its five objectives. The 

subcommittee identified Objective 1—Examining legislation/regulation/organizational policy

and Objective 5 – Exploring policy and practice for youth in federal facilities – as its first two

priorities. Pursuant to these priorities, the subcommittee agreed that it would begin work to 

collect and build a living repository for legislative and regulatory information across member 

agencies. In addition, the group will begin gathering data and background information on youth 

in custody.

The subcommittee also welcomed Sarah Meehan, a Presidential Management Fellow temporarily 

detailed to OJJDP’s Policy Coordination Division. In support of the committee and its work 

towards Objective 1, Sarah is conducting interviews with federal members. The goal of this 

process is to identify policies and statute across partner agencies that are relevant to the 

Council’s mission, including gaps that may impact our ability to effectively serve youth. The 

subcommittee will use this collection of federal policy information to conduct a review and 

analysis and propose options and recommendations to the Council for closing these gaps. Some 

initial gaps were identified for illustrative purposes where federal agencies could more fully 

support system-involved youth and youth transitioning out of juvenile facilities.

The committee is also examining how different agencies define key terms, which will assist

members when reviewing legislation and future policies, and inform cross-agency 

communication related to youth at-risk of entering or already involved in the juvenile justice 

system.

Moving forward, the committee will continue to gather policy information via the key informant 

interview process and to analyze the information provided by Federal agency representatives.

Work on the data and background for Objective 5 – Federal facilities is beginning and ongoing. 
Policy Subcommittee Members:

Kristen Kracke

Chair

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Marissa Abbott

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Jeffery Buehler

U.S. Department of Education

Joseph Bullock

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Mary Campise

U.S. Department of Defense

Amiyah Davis

Practitioner Member

Sherene Donaldson

U. S. Department of Education

Gregory Henschel

U. S. Department of Education

Cheri Hoffman

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Jennifer Kemp

U.S. Department of Labor

Michael Mendoza

Practitioner Member

Diana Morales

U.S. Department of Defense

Mark Patterson 

Practitioner Member

Lourdes Rosado

Practitioner Member

Liz Simons

Practitioner Member