Snapshots from a Busy Week

June is proving to be a busy time at the Center for Court Innovation. This week, we sent a cadre of folks to the national drug court conference in Boston. Among other topics, staffers from the Center will be featured on panels about about confidentiality laws, juvenile drug courts, mental health issues, the Rockefeller drug laws, domestic violence, community justice, and drug court research. Kudos to Val for organizing it all!

In addition, before the formal drug court conference began, Al and Chris helped to organize a special two-day symposium on reentry court. I'm hoping that we will be able to build on our success in Harlem in the days ahead to do more reentry work across the country.

Back in New York, the Staten Island Youth Court held its third graduation/induction ceremony. Since the Youth Court's inception, it has heard 219 cases involving teens who would have otherwise gone through the traditional criminal and juvenile justice systems. Compliance with sanctions remains at 90 percent. Melissa and her team have done a great job with this project.

Finally, yesterday, the CEO of the Corporation of National and Community Service came to NYC to do an event with Mayor Bloomberg on the steps of City Hall celebrating AmeriCorps grants to New York. I'm proud to say that James was invited to represent us at the event since we are one of the fortunate organizations to receive a new federal AmeriCorps grant.

Just as exciting