UC Law program to address challenges in the juvenile justice system

The University of Cincinnati College of Law will host the Juvenile Justice Symposium, Friday, Oct. 18, starting at 9 a.m. in Room 114 at the College of Law.  Cost is $10 for professionals, free for students. CLE:  5.5  have been approved for Kentucky and applied for in Ohio.  

The daylong symposium will address the challenges in the juvenile justice system, myths surrounding the “troubled kids,” effective strategies to reduce reoffending, the impact of trauma on youth, community-based alternatives to incarceration, and approaches for improving the system. 

Unique to this event will be the opportunity to hear the stories of youth who have first-hand experience of the system, providing a foundation for the day’s discussion.  Attendees will also have opportunity to experience an immersive juvenile detention experience provided in partnership with the Children’s Law Center, Covington, KY.

Participants will be able to enter a solitary confinement space designed to replicate the experience of children who are forced to endure such circumstances. CLC attorneys will be on hand to discuss the history of solitary confinement for juveniles and the impact such confinement might have on their long-term mental health and success

Symposium topics include:

• Protecting juvenile rights
• Guns and dispelling the myth of the dangerous kid
• The promise of adolescence: reality and opportunity for serving youth
• Keeping kids from returning to the system
• Trauma sensitive interactions
• The intersection of sentences and services, and
• Taking a holistic examination of the juvenile justice system

Participants in the symposium include:

• Honorable John M. Williams Hamilton County Juvenile Court
• Honorable Anthony Capizzi, Montgomery County Juvenile Court
• Tracy Cook, ProKids
•  Bonita Campbell, Lighthouse Youth & Family Services
• Susan Mangold, Juvenile Law Center (Philadelphia, PA)
•  Ryan Gies, Ohio Department of Youth Services
• Angela Chang, Hamilton County Public Defenders Office
• Alphonse Gerhardstein, Gerhardstein & Branch Co. LPA

This event is presented by the Juvenile & Family Law Club at the University of Cincinnati College of Law in collaboration with ProKids and the Children’s Law Center.

For questions and registration assistance, contact Wynn Horton at hortonwn@mail.uc.edu.  

Founded in 1833, the University of Cincinnati College of Law has the distinction of being the first law school west of the Alleghenies. From humble beginnings 175 years ago in a room above Timothy Walker’s law offices to its home today in Clifton (OH), Cincinnati Law has been on the leading edge of legal education. Thousands of lawyers have graduated from the law school, and about one-third practice in the Greater Cincinnati community, working in all areas of the law. For more information about the College of Law, visit www.law.uc.edu.