Season Two - it's a wrap.Beth Oprisch and Shavonte Keaton put the finishing touches on Season Two of These Are Our Kids: A Podcast for JDAIconnect. A huge thank you and shout out to our guests this season: Jared Garrett, William Rodriguez, Carmen Terrones, Glenn Larson, Derrell Frazier, and Natalie Steiner. Each brought special insight and inspiration to our four questions of Season Two.What did 2020 teach you?What are you hopeful for in 2021?How do we take the next steps for race ...

Welcome to another episode in Season Two of These Are Our Kids: A Podcast for JDAIconnect. This week's guest was Natalie Steiner. Natalie is the local JDAI Coordinator in Circuit 13 for the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. Tampa Bay is once again The City of Champions. The Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl, and the Tampa Bay Rays were the runner-up in the World Series. And to add to the championship status, Tampa Bay ...

Welcome to another episode in Season Two of These Are Our Kids: A Podcast for JDAIconnect. This week's guest was Derrell Frazier.What a conversation! Talk about a passionate advocate for justice reform. Alive. Strength. Value. Legacy. Did you know that Derrell has a super power? Just listen. The the whole episode is a mic drop. Mic Drop. Boom.Looking forward to your comments and suggestion about the podcast. We hope you enjoy this episode of These Are ...

Welcome to another episode in Season Two of These Are Our Kids: A Podcast for JDAIconnect. This week's guest was Glenn Larson. As if there aren't enough reasons to wish this pandemic away, here's another one - an opportunity to meet Glenn. He's steady and true as a leader. He's kind and compassionate in his approach. He's thoughtful and intelligent in his work. And he's a Green Bay Packer fan. What more do you want? Listen to him talk about hope, calm ...

Welcome to episode 11 of Season Two of These Are Our Kids: A Podcast for JDAIconnect. Today our guest was Carmen Terrones. Carmen is full of energy and insight, passion and promise, commitment and calling. She calls herself spicy. We call her authentic and courageous. She's no diamond in the rough, she is the diamond. We were lucky to have this gem on the podcast. Go ahead and listen. We think you'll agree.Looking forward to your comments and suggestio...

Welcome to Episode 10 of Season Two of These Are Our Kids: A Podcast for JDAIconnect. Today's guest was Willie Rodriguez. Willie is a professor at Boston University and the co-founder of the Reimagining Juvenile Initiative. He's received too many awards to list, but is most proud of being "Father of the Year," That's Willie. Talking to Willie - what a treat. It's hard to chat with him for only 20 minutes. He is so engaging, energetic, and enthusiastic -...

Welcome to the first episode of Season Two of These Are Our Kids: A Podcast for JDAIconnect. Our first guest this season was Jared Garrett. Jared is a JDAI Team Leader from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He is also the first winner of the inaugural JDAIconnect Engager Award that was presented at the 2019 Inter-site Conference in Seattle Red Carpet Interviews @ the JDAI Awards! Jared is what we- in the JDAIconnect biz consider a super-user. A super-user translates ...

Welcome to Season Two of the Podcast. For those fans of Season One, COVID delayed our production, but did not deter our spirit and we are back! Just when you thought there couldn't be yet another podcast, here we are again. For those who have no idea that there was a Season One, well, what are you waiting for? We know you have some time! Check it out. This season we are interviewing six amazing reformers who will answer four questions:1. What did 2020 teach you?2. What are yo...

Listen to this mini-episode where the hosts of the podcast share a little more about themselves while bidding farewell to the first season. Beth and Auri review the highlights of the season, makes a call to action, and sends the warmest thanks to our listeners and guests. If you are just now aware of the podcast, never fear! Click on the Podcast in the Resource Center to catch up on all of the episodes and read the descriptions.What’s next? Share your feedback- did you listen to the podcast? ...

Welcome to Episode 7 of These Are Our Kids: A Podcast for JDAIconnect. When we recall the 21-Day Equity Challenge, on day one we asked “What is your why?”. Many of you all shared heartfelt, sincere stories about people- impacted youth, families, communities are all part of the reason why you show up and do the work. Well, our season would not be complete without hearing from the youth.Today's very special episode features a conversation with Lakeisha Phelps and Jasmine Jones, youth leade...

Welcome to Episode 7 of These Are Our Kids: A Podcast for JDAIconnect.For this episode of the first season of the podcast, PJI's Auri Whitaker and Beth Oprisch chatted with Lisa Macaluso.Lisa cut her JDAI chops in New Jersey and has spread her wings, and wealth of knowledge, across the nation as a JDAI Team Leader and Technical Assistant. We talked about Rutgers, New Jersey and state scale. We talked about dissertations, changed career paths, and Lisa's why. We discussed the art and science o...

Welcome to Episode 5 of These Are Our Kids: A Podcast for JDAIconnect. We sat down with James Payne in Miami at the State Scale Convening in December 2018. Jim is a fascinating man with a ton of experience. He talked about his time as a prosecutor in New York City and his evolution in thinking about how to effectively work with young people. Jim also discussed his thoughts about the future efforts of JDAI. Here is some more information about the various topics th...

Welcome to Episode 4 of These Are Our Kids: A Podcast for JDAIconnect.Today's episode features a conversation with Steve Bishop and a discussion about transforming juvenile probation.Steve Bishop is a senior associate in the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Justice Strategy Group. He provided content expertise for 2018 Transforming Juvenile Probation: A Vision for Getting It Right. We sat down with Steve in Baltimore to talk about how, and why it is important, to “get probation...

Welcome to Episode 3 of These Are Our Kids: A Podcast for JDAIconnect.In today's episode we talk about data. Yep, data. And before you judge the episode and wonder how in the world this topic could be appealing, have a listen. Our guest Jason Melchi, is the Chief Data Dude. He is engaging, interesting and his passion for data and bridge-building with data is infectious. He's an IT guy with a service heart. Listen and you'll understand. Jason is the owner of ...

Welcome to Episode 2 of These Are Our Kids: A Podcast for JDAIconnect. For this episode, we met with Lisa Garry in her hometown of Baltimore. Lisa personifies passion for youth and both she and her work are recognized nationally. She is the recipient of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's The Distinguished Leadership Award and the MacArthur Foundations Champion for Change Award. Currently, Lisa is employed by the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services. She was ...

Welcome to the first episode of These Are Our Kids: A Podcast for JDAIconnect. We asked Nate Balis to join us as our first-ever guest and he sat down with us at his office in Baltimore to discuss his vision for the podcast as a platform on JDAIconnect. He also outlined the four themes that will be highlighted on JDAIconnect this year – fundamentals, equity and inclusion, probation transformation and family and youth engagement.Listen to the episode to hear Nate’s “WHY”, to hear hi...

JDAIconnect is an online platform for all those interested in youth justice reform. The platform is rich with resources, discussions, and trainings. This podcast shares the voices of those on the frontline of youth justice reform, and offers advice and inspiration for others engaged in this work. Season One will premier in January of 2019 with 7 sessions. The episodes will be hosted by Beth Oprisch and Auri Whitaker, Hope you will listen with us.