The Information Sharing Certificate Program is designed for public and private sector leaders working in the juvenile justice, child welfare, mental health, substance abuse, education and other related systems of care that seek to improve information sharing in their communities.

Those who attend the program will be the current and future leaders of these agencies and communities-- individuals who are responsible for and capable of leading change. For example, family court judges; directors and senior staff from juvenile probation and corrections, child welfare, education, substance abuse and mental health agencies; law enforcement, prosecutors or public defenders; as well as political leaders or senior staff from county commissions, city councils, state legislatures and tribes, would benefit from this program and are encouraged to apply. The participants may also include the data and legal professionals to whom leaders will turn within their organizations to implement information sharing reforms. The target audience includes:

• Directors and their senior staff from juvenile justice, child welfare, behavioral health, education, and other public agencies; including:
  
  • Chief Information Officers (and/or key personnel from their staff)
    Information Technology/Data Management Directors (and/or key personnel from their staff)
    
  • Chief Legal Counsel (from the agencies identified above, and/or key personnel from their staff)
    
  • Senior Policy Advisors within the above identified agencies (i.e., Policy Director, Chief of Staff, etc.)
    
  • Senior Probation & Child Protection/Child Welfare Managers
    
• Directors and their senior staff from service provider organizations,
  
• Members of the judiciary and other court personnel such as defense attorneys and prosecutors, and
  
• Advocates, researchers and others who work with public and private sector organizations on information sharing initiatives.

Applicants should have a demonstrated interest in improving outcomes for children, youth and their families involved in the juvenile justice, child welfare and other related systems of care through increased cooperation and collaboration between public agencies and other service providers. Successful candidates will be able to identify in their applications their efforts to date implementing cross systems policies and practices, with a particular emphasis on any past information sharing efforts. They should identify the barriers they experienced in undertaking this work, and whether or not they were successful in those efforts. We are looking for participants who are seeking to build on their successes or overcome challenges, thereby being in a position to most benefit from the instruction and technical assistance they will receive during the Certificate Program and as a Fellow.

As the Information Sharing Certificate Program is meant to benefit current and future leaders, the Center will only choose those applicants from the requisite professional roles, possessing the requisite experience and expertise. While there are no minimum education or experience requirements, a preference will be given to those with the ability and in a position to move reform efforts forward upon completion of the Certificate Program.

Interested applicants are encouraged to form teams of up to six people from their community since having a team of individuals highly knowledgeable about information sharing will likely accelerate progress in a community. That said, individuals interested in this program are also welcome to apply without being part of a team.

Note that individuals who have participated in CJJR's Multi-System Integration Certificate Program would benefit from attending this program to explore information sharing issues more deeply and develop reform efforts specifically focused on improving information sharing across child-serving systems.

This program is NOT accepting applications from students who do not also hold a professional role in a child serving organization.