OJJDP Family Listening Sessions: Executive Summary - Office of ...

Chapter 3. Family Listening Session: June 15, 2011
Overview
On June 15, 2011, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), in
collaboration with the Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ), held the third in a series of four
family listening sessions in Washington, DC, to hear from families who have experienced the
best and worst practices of the juvenile justice system and to explore ways to improve family
engagement to ensure better outcomes for children and youth.
Session Format
Sue Hoag-Badeau from OJJDP welcomed and thanked the families for their participation and
provided an overview of the session’s objective—to engage families from diverse backgrounds
to learn about their experience with the juvenile justice system. The primary goal of this and the
other listening sessions was to capture the voices and perspectives of families and youth with
system experience and to use that information to inform OJJDP policy, to identify and develop
best practices, and to maximize grant-making opportunities.
The session began with brief introductions by family members, federal officials, invited guests,
and staff from CFYJ. Session facilitators assured the family participants that no names or other
identifying information would be used outside the room. Family members were asked to respect
the confidentiality of others in the room. Further, family members were advised that the session
would be recorded for note-taking purposes only and that OJJDP would be producing a
document in association with this listening session.
In the interests of time and brevity, CFYJ facilitators framed questions in a manner that
objectively directed the family members while allowing the sharing of information regardless of
its relevance to the questions posed. The facilitators encouraged the participants to share their
perspectives freely, but to be as direct and succinct as possible.
The full list of questions, found in appendix A, served as background information and as a tool to
clarify comments shared throughout this report and to inform and guide the questions posed to
family members during the family listening session.
Below is a summary of the participants’ responses.
19