Kids in the Community
- It Works! Conference to focus on how communities can help troubled juveniles -

LONG BRANCH - New Jersey Governor's Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Committee (JJDP) and the New Jersey Association of County Youth Services Commissions will hold their first annual Joint Conference entitled, "Kids in the Community - It Works!" on November 2, 2001 at the Ocean Place Conference Center in Long Branch, NJ. More than 350 participants are expected.

"If we can reach troubled youth early enough, we have a greater chance of turning their lives around," said Bruce D. Stout, Executive Director, Juvenile Justice Commission. "The Juvenile Justice Commission is pleased to participate in this conference that is designed to provide New Jersey's communities with the information they need to help their troubled and delinquent youth before it is too late."

The keynote speaker is Terrence S. Donahue, Acting Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice. Workshops are designed to help local governments design programs for their unique juvenile populations in the following areas: Primary Delinquency Prevention, Law Enforcement/Family Court Diversion, Detention Alternatives, Community Based Alternatives, and Aftercare.

"The New Jersey Governor's Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Committee continues its twenty-five year effort in helping to improve New Jersey's juvenile justice system, reducing delinquency and providing programs and services for youth and families," said Judge B. Thomas Leahy, Chair of the JJDP. "We are happy to bring this program to New Jersey's communities."

"The New Jersey Association of County Youth Services Commission is the statewide organization of the planning bodies for youth at-risk of or already involved with the juvenile justice system," said Robert P. Baselice, Co-Chair of the NJ Association of County Youth Services Commissions. "Each County Youth Services Commission develops and implements programming within the scope of local commission needs. The Association is committed to providing advocacy for juveniles and at-risk youth."

For more information on the JJC, please visit www.njjjc.com