Jefferson County Attend Workshop For Upstream Project

Community members and county officials attended a two day workshop on April 30 and May 1 to support Upstream, a program that helps connect children and families in the court system with services that can help them. One of those attendees was Jefferson County Commissioner Danielle Schwab, who said, “Representatives from the courts, child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health services, schools, and many other local organizations joined forces to strengthen collaboration and improve access to support.”Schwab added, “It was a powerful couple days of connection, problem-solving, and shared purpose. Upstream is just the beginning of building a stronger support system for families in our county—and we’re proud to be a part of it.” Judge Linda Bauer convened officials from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Probation, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), schools, Educational Service Units (ESU), Hospital, BraveBe, Blue Valley Community Action, County and City Commissioners, local businesses and other Jefferson County resource service providers to meet at the Elks Lodge in Fairbury to discuss how to better serve children and families in the court system. The Upstream program is intended to connect people in need with available resources, such as judicial leadership, child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health services and other resources.The workshop was introduced with an illustration credited to Desmond Tutu, “There comes a point where we need to stop pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.” The community mapping workshop is intended to encourage a more proactive approach when looking at the causes of people who end up in the court system. The first day of the workshop involves the “mapping” of community resources, challenges, the child welfare system, and the juvenile justice system. Discussions included how well agencies work together, what kind of intervention programs are in place, and what is needed to keep youth and their families out of the court system.The second day of the workshop was spent drafting action plans of the top priorities the group voted on at the end of day one. The action plans will be housed and worked on under the Through the Eyes of the Child team, led by Judge Bauer. This original team will come together in a year to discuss successes, challenges, and further plans in order to continue this proactive work to impact children, youth, and families in the community. The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) has facilitated Upstream mapping workshops in other states, but Nebraska is the first state to combine the needs of children, youth, and families involved in child welfare and youth justice systems.Upstream serves as a conceptual framework for communities to: Map their specific community resources, gaps, and collaborations; Develop a comprehensive landscape of how children and families enter and move through the child welfare system and the courts; Identify opportunities to divert families to appropriate resources both before and after formal court involvement and at each Point of Prevention and Intervention; and Create a strategic action plan informed by the community map.

Roger Roskilly Is May Veteran Of The Month

Governor Revises Burn Ban

Related Articles

Voters Reject Tri County School Bond

Dead Man in the Ring: Part One

FPS Announces New Head Coach

Ricketts, Fischer Champion Relocating USDA to Nebraska