The mission of the Nebraska Juvenile Justice Association is to improve services to youth in the juvenile justice system by serving as a resource for collaboration, leadership development, and education for juvenile justice system professionals.
Our 2022-2024 NJJA strategic visions consist of the following: 1) inspirational, diverse training opportunities; 2) influential statewide representation for system change; 3) active youth leading the way and; 4) sustainable organizational growth. We plan on achieving this vision by expanding organizational capacity, expanding reach and resources, and expanding intentional impact.
Board Involvement
Most notable action steps the board took this past year was intentional recruitment of those young adults with lived experience. Board members play an active role on the Conference Planning Committee and several subcommittees and helping to facilitate podcasts. Board members attended the 2023 NJJA Conference and assisted in breakout sessions, registration, reception and other areas as needed. Two of our Board Members involved with Youth Day at the conference, recruited additional facilitators and expanded our Youth Day to include 26 youth at the conference.
Accomplishments
NJJA once again, held a successful in-person conference with 436 attendees. Inspirational keynote speakers, informative and interactive breakout sessions, a networking reception, and Youth Day all contributed to the success. Conference surveys reported 98.44% participants would attend the conference again, 93.98% reported the conference fulfilled their reason to attend and 50.34% gave the conference an “excellent” rating while 36.05% rated it “very good.”
We created a passionate Youth Day subcommittee with new insights, ideas, and connections. Because of this dynamic workgroup, NJJA engaged 26 youth from four (4) different programs to attend Youth Day on May 4th. This is an increase from past years which usually ranged between 15-20 youth. These youth were able to listen to the Thursday keynote speaker, Tony Hoffman, and meet with him in a small group to ask questions. The youth were also able to attend breakout sessions and be a part of “Call to Action” discussion to share their experiences in working with professionals and the juvenile justice system. Youth reported what they learned and loved about the conference:
We provided seven (7) web-based trainings and one (1) in-person training. Training topics were carefully chosen based on survey results from our 2022-2024 Strategic Plan and 2023 Conference. The trainings were as follows:
The 6 podcasts NJJA hosted, involved conference keynote speakers, live interviews at the conference, professionals with lived experience making an impact today, and the work of professionals in rural areas.
We have also become more involved in community collaborates across the state of Nebraska to learn about the work they are doing in their communities and how NJJA could be a partner. We are currently involved in six (6) ongoing collaborates.
Our Association has also formed new partnerships. NJJA contracted with Lancaster County to host webinars to strengthen the knowledge of County Prosecutors across the state of Nebraska related to juvenile matters. NJJA also began a partnership with the National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children to bring awareness of the impacts of adult drug use on youth.
The mission of the Nebraska Juvenile Justice Association is to improve services to youth in the juvenile justice system by serving as a resource for collaboration, leadership development, and education for juvenile justice system professionals.
Board Involvement
Most notable action steps the board took this past year was intentional recruitment of those young adults with lived experience. Board members play an active role on the Conference Planning Committee and several subcommittees and helping to facilitate podcasts. Board members attended the 2023 NJJA Conference and assisted in breakout sessions, registration, reception and other areas as needed. Two of our Board Members involved with Youth Day at the conference, recruited additional facilitators and expanded our Youth Day to include 26 youth at the conference.
