5/3/06 -- NCJFCJ will present “Graduated Sanctions in Juvenile Justice: A National Training,” May 7-10, 2006 at the new South Coast Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. More than 300 juvenile justice professionals, including judges, probation officers, and others from Nevada and around the country are expected to participate. NCJFCJ is presenting this program in cooperation with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Graduated sanctions are quick, calibrated responses to delinquent behaviors in kids. The goal is to stop delinquency in its tracks and to link young offenders to the most effective and appropriate interventions.

This intensive 2½-day training will explore delinquency prevention strategies, best practices in probation, model programs serving our most challenging youth and their families, and detention alternatives for diverse populations in jurisdictions of various sizes. New “e-tools” will be introduced to help judges and juvenile justice practitioners access data on state legislation in graduated sanctions, and on model programs at all sanctioning levels, including secure care and parole.

Clark County was one of the first sites selected to demonstrate graduated sanctions, and a number of local juvenile justice representatives will be on the distinguished international faculty, including Fritz Reese, Dr. Tim Boylan, Beth Marek, and Pamela Towers. Other Nevada dignitaries in attendance will include Justice Nancy A. Becker, Vice Chief Justice of the Nevada Supreme Court, Judge William Voy, Eighth Judicial District, Family Division, Las Vegas, and Cherlyn Townsend, Director, Clark County Juvenile Justice Services.

Since its founding in 1937, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, based on the University of Nevada, Reno campus, has been in the forefront of addressing issues pertaining to juvenile and family law and is a leader in continuing education opportunities, research, and policy development. The NCJFCJ is the nation’s oldest judicial membership organization with more than 1,600 members.