Janet Reno Forums

The forums convene leadership experts, policymakers, researchers, practitioners, and advocates to discuss promising practices, new research, and policy reform proposals in the realms of juvenilejustice, child welfare, and child and youth

development. Each forum will be preceded by the development of a white paper, commissioned for the forum and developed by experts in the field. The paper will be presented at the forum to help frame the discussion.

2018 Janet Reno Forum: Transforming Juvenile Justice Systems

On May 21st, approximately 200 policymakers, practitioners, researchers, educators, judicial officials, community members, foundation representatives and advocates traveled to Georgetown University from across the country to attend the 2018 Janet Reno Forum and participate in a discussion about the future of the juvenile justice system. During the convening, national experts, system leaders and funders took part in panel discussions around the six key strategies for reform outlined in the newly released publication Transforming Juvenile Justice Systems to Improve Public Safety and Youth Outcomes and shared information about their organizations’ efforts to create a safer, more effective juvenile justice system. Topics included:

• Shrinking the Footprint of the Juvenile Justice System
• Reimagining Juvenile Justice Supervision and Services
• Professionalizing the Juvenile Court
• Using Data and Predictive Analytics to Improve Outcomes for Youth
• Transforming Juvenile Justice Systems: What Will it Take?

The 2018 Janet Reno Forum would not have been possible without the partnership of the CSG Justice Center and the generous support of the following sponsoring organizations: The Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, Sierra Health Foundation, and The Tow Foundation. As part of the conference, representatives from these foundations took part in a panel during which they explored ideas on how best to advance transformational change in juvenile justice.

The Forum also featured the presentation of the 2018 Janet Reno Women’s Leadership Award to the Honorable Cindy S. Lederman, Circuit Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida (Miami-Dade), who has dedicated her career to improving the lives of children, youth and families. The Janet Reno Women’s Leadership Award is an annual award presented to a leader who has demonstrated a commitment and ability to effect change in her community or organization to benefit youth, particularly those at risk of entering the juvenile justice or child welfare systems.

Other Endowment activities include the annual Janet Reno Forum, the Janet Reno Fund to support technical assistance to implement CJJR’s Certificate Programs, Crossover Youth Practice Model, and Youth in Custody Practice Model, and the Future Policy Leaders program to support one or more Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy students annually to serve as research assistants at CJJR. The Janet Reno Endowment was established in 2016 to honor and promote the legacy of America’s first woman Attorney General.

Who Should Attend

We encourage anyone who is interested in improving the lives of youth to attend the conference. Policymakers, practitioners, researchers, educators, judicial officials, community leaders, family members, foundation representatives, and more will benefit from this opportunity to hear from leading experts, as well as network with professionals from around the country and participate in a national dialogue on cutting-edge issues.