“Harnessing The Power of Collaboration:”
Alliance for the Advancement of Education
in Juvenile Justice and Adult Corrections
Susan McKee
President & CEO
Pace Learning Systems
Dorothy (Dottie) Wodraska
Correctional Education Specialist/
Director of Federal Education Grant Programs
Arizona Supreme Court
Presentation Outline
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Brief History: The Journey Thus Far
Alliance Defined
Collaboration Is Key
Planning for Success
Progress To Date
Keep The Momentum : Call To Action
What’s In It For Me (Us)?
• Gain knowledge about the effort to advance
education in juvenile justice and adult
corrections
• Participate in the exciting journey to help
build the alliance through shared expertise
and experience
• Enjoy the personal and organizational
rewards of participating in building a unified
voice to strengthen and benefit correctional
education
COLLABORATION
• Coming together is a beginning: keeping
together is progress; working together is
success.
Henry Ford, American Industrialist
• People acting together as a group can
accomplish things which no individual
acting alone could ever hope to bring about.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, U.S. President
The Journey Thus Far
2005: Florida State University Center for Criminology and
Public Policy Research was awarded funding by Congress
through OJJDP to establish the Juvenile Justice No Child
Left Behind (NCLB) Collaboration Project. Funding was
extended for this national effort to improve education for
incarcerated youth in 2006 and 2007.
October 2006: Project staff participated in meetings with
members of the Correctional Education Association, (CEA)
Arizona Correctional Educators, Inc.(ACE), the National
Partnership for Juvenile Services and NDTAC to discuss
collaborative strategies.
The Journey Thus Far
October 2006 – 2008: A series of presentations were made at
various conferences and venues as well as meetings to
continue to explore collaborative strategies.
April 2008: A Correctional Education Strategic Planning
Taskforce met in Tampa, Florida in conjunction with the
2008 National Conference on Juvenile Justice Education and
NCLB to develop a strategic plan for a national alliance for
juvenile justice and adult correctional education.
Fall 2008: A press release is issued announcing the
establishment of the National Data Clearinghouse at FSU
and the development of the Alliance for Juvenile Justice and
Adult Correctional Education led by FSU and CEA.
ALLIANCE DEFINED
An alliance is defined as a
union, relationship or
connection formed to
advance common interests
or causes.
American Heritage Dictionary, College Edition
COLLABORATION IS KEY
• Why Collaborate?
– Build a unified voice to strengthen advocacy
efforts
– Eliminate fragmentation and duplication
– Increase resources and leverage scarce
resources wisely
– Improve effectiveness of educational
programming
– Build capacity for juvenile justice and adult
correctional education
PLANNING FOR SUCCESS
Mission:
The Alliance for the Advancement of
Education in Juvenile Justice and Adult
Corrections will provide leadership,
direction and research driven services
to advance proven and effective
education
programming
for
incarcerated juveniles and adults across
the nation.
PLANNING FOR SUCCESS
3 Strategic Initiatives:
– To prepare juvenile justice and adult correctional students for
successful reentry into society by equipping them with
academic, career/technical and personal/social skills.
– To support juvenile justice educators and adult correctional
educators by providing research driven educational programs
with opportunities for leadership, networking, publication,
professional development and personal growth.
– To increase citizen awareness and legislative support for
juvenile justice education and adult correctional education
through research driven public relations and legislative
advocacy.
PLANNING FOR SUCCESS
Five Goals
Goal 1: Build Alliances
Objectives:
– Identify juvenile justice education and
adult correctional education agencies
– Outreach to invite agencies to join
alliance
– Develop a plan for collaboration to
advance education for students in juvenile
justice programs and adult corrections.
PLANNING FOR SUCCESS
Goal 2: Collect, analyze, and report data on the
relationship between juvenile justice and adult
correctional education and successful community
reentry.
Objectives:
– Develop data clearinghouse for juvenile justice and
adult correctional education
– Facilitate access to the data clearinghouse for
juvenile justice and adult correctional education
professionals
– Publish an annual report on the state of juvenile
justice and adult correctional education
PLANNING FOR SUCCESS
Goal 3: Codify juvenile justice and adult correctional
education program standards towards identifying a
uniform model
Objectives:
– Identify, review and assess existing standards for
juvenile justice education
– Identify, review and assess existing standards for
adult correctional education
– Determine the most effective evidence-based
education program standards with continuous
review and development protocols
PLANNING FOR SUCCESS
Goal 4: Increase professional development opportunities
for juvenile justice and adult correctional educators
Objectives:
– Offer specialized in-service training on selected topics
– Provide participation opportunities at national
meetings for juvenile justice and adult correctional
educators
– Facilitate opportunities for publication by juvenile
justice and adult correctional educators
– Provide various electronic and print mechanisms for
networking and information exchange
– Promote and develop continuing education
opportunities
PLANNING FOR SUCCESS
Goal 5: Promote citizen awareness and legislative support
for juvenile justice and adult correctional education
Objectives:
– Establish a baseline measure of the level of public and
legislative awareness
– Develop a public and legislative awareness plan based
on baseline findings
– Utilize the existing media network to implement the
plan
– Conduct an annual assessment of changes in the level of
public and legislative awareness
– Develop and implement a policy plan focused on
advancing juvenile justice and adult correctional ed
Progress To Date
• Alliance partners collaborating to support each others
efforts through presentations and information sharing
• FSU established a National Data Clearinghouse for
Juvenile Justice and Adult Correctional Education
• National press release regarding Alliance and Data
Clearinghouse released in October 2008
• Website links developed for Clearinghouse and Alliance
• Dr. Tom Blomberg invited to testify before a joint hearing
of the Healthy Families and Communities Subcommittee
and the Crime Subcommittee in D.C. on March 12, 2009
• Ongoing meetings and conference calls facilitated by CEA
for continuing development of the Alliance
KEEP THE MOMENTUM:
CALL TO ACTION
• What are some next steps?
• What additional concerns and issues need to be
addressed in the Alliance strategic plan?
• Are there other organization/agency partners
that you think need to be invited to participate
in the Alliance?
• How can you help to develop the Alliance?
• How can the Alliance support your work?
THE POWER OF
COLLABORATION
• “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed people (working together toward a
common goal) can change the world. Indeed,
it is the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead
CONTACT INFORMATION
Dorothy (Dottie) Wodraska
Correctional Education Specialist/
Director of Federal Education
Grants Programs
Arizona Supreme Court
Administrative Office of the Courts
Juvenile Justice Services Division
1501 West Washington, Suite 337
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Phone: (602) 452-3573
Fax: (602) 452-3879
Email: Dwodraska@courts.az.gov
Web:
http://www.supreme.state.az.us/jj
sd/correctional-ed
Susan P. McKee, Ph.D.
President and CEO
Pace Learning Systems
3710 Resource Dr.
Tuscaloosa, AL 35401
Phone: (800) 826-7223
Fax:
(205) 758-3222
Email:
smckee@pacelearning.com
Web:
http://www.pacelearning.com