The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), the nation’s oldest and largest judicial membership and education organization, announces the launch of a new podcast network for judges and related professionals who work with children and families in the juvenile and family court systems.
The NCJFCJ serves an estimated 30,000 professionals in juvenile and family justice including judges, referees, commissioners, court masters and administrators, social and mental health workers, police, and probation officers and impacts more than 4 million families every year.
Citizens find themselves in court at some of the most poignant, vulnerable, and challenging moments of their lives. The most valuable education and training on juvenile justice, child welfare, and family violence is through the work of the NCJFCJ.
“The NCJFCJ is consistently providing cutting-edge education and training to our judiciary and related professions to improve the lives of families and children seeking justice,” said William DeLisio, deputy executive officer of the NCJFCJ. “Our podcast network will further enhance the wide-ranging learning opportunities and evidence-based research that we offer at no cost, while leveraging our network of thought leaders in juvenile justice reform, domestic violence, mental health, and more.”
The NCJFCJ Podcast Network has debuted with several podcast series:
- Keep The Numbers Low
While the number of youth detained declined in the early days of the pandemic, there was a period later in the pandemic where there was an uptick in those numbers. The NCJFCJ, funded by the William T. Grant Foundation, created this series on youth confinement decision-making in the wake of COVID-19, including episodes on youth detention trends, examples of changes in decision processes and criteria to reduce the use of confinement, and addressing community safety concerns posed by youth with serious offenses without confinement. This series is hosted by Dr. Martha-Elin Blomquist, Ph.D., senior site manager at the NCJFCJ. - Stalking & Risk
The NCJFCJ’s National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence presents this series to help judicial officers better respond to stalking and to highlight the Judicial Office Guide for Responding to Stalking and its accompanying bench card developed by the Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center, the NCJFCJ, and the National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project at American University, Washington, College of Law. The episode is facilitated by Aaron Polkey, staff attorney with Futures Without Violence, and hosted by the National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence. - Centering Children
This four-part track features Dr. Peter Jaffe and Dr. Linda Baker from the Center for Research Education on Violence Against Women and Children at the University of Western Ontario, to discuss the impact of domestic violence on children. Moderated by Aaron Polkey, staff attorney with Futures Without Violence and hosted by the National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence, these discussions include understanding exposure to domestic violence for children in the justice system, recognizing domestic violence when determining custody, and fostering resilience. - Raising Expectations
Experts with deep experience discuss custody evaluation in the context of domestic violence, why it is challenging and necessary work, how to avoid assumptions in these cases, and how to raise expectations — as a judge — for evaluative practice communities. While the series is designed for judges, all court stakeholders will benefit from learning about safer and coordinated custody evaluation practices. This project was funded by the Office on Violence Against Women, Department of Justice. - Nevada Center for Juvenile Justice Education
Nevada’s Revised Statute 62B.615 established an “evidence-based program resource center” called the Nevada Center for Juvenile Justice Innovation to support quality programs and practices in Nevada’s juvenile justice system. In keeping with this mission, the NCJJI podcast series aims to shed light on emerging juvenile justice research, programs, practices, and innovations in the field. Each episode features expert guests who share recent insights from their research and/or practice in the field.
New series and episodes will be added throughout the year.