The 32nd National Conference on Juvenile Justice will convene March 20-23, 2005 at the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate in Orlando, Florida, with some 1,500 juvenile justice professionals expected to attend. “Shine Your Light” is the theme of the annual conference, which is co-sponsored by the Reno, Nevada-based National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the National District Attorneys Association, headquartered in Alexandria, Va.

Judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, probation officers, detention and corrections workers, police, legislators, social workers, and others from around the country will attend the 2-1/2 day program which will focus on issues facing our juvenile and family courts, including juvenile delinquency, child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, among many others. Secretary Anthony J. Schembri of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice will speak at Monday’s luncheon.

Other Conference highlights:

• Plenary session speakers will include Mark Carey, a veteran juvenile probation officer, counselor and administrator from St. Paul, Minn., who will speak on why hope is necessary for change to take place in “Shine Your Light: A Ray of Hope.” Other plenary sessions will explore the connection between brain development and adolescent behavior; the positive changes occurring in the child protection system; and a more effective juvenile justice response to methamphetamines. Administrator J. Robert Flores of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice, will speak March 22.
  
• As many as 17 seminars will run concurrently during the program on a wide variety of topics including: child abuse and neglect; juvenile drug courts; girls in the juvenile justice system; substance abuse; gangs; juvenile domestic violence; juvenile mental health issues; Internet crimes against children; juvenile sex offenders; and truancy.
  
• A live satellite broadcast on graduated juvenile sanctions will take place from the conference on Tuesday afternoon, highlighting the work of the NCJFCJ’s Juvenile Sanctions Center.