Juvenile Justice in Cook County: The View from Inside
Moderated by Hon. Anne Burke
Featuring Leonard Dixon, Candice Jones, and Hon. Colleen Sheehan
Wednesday, Jun 1, 2016
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Speakers
Leonard Dixon
Leonard Dixon is currently the Superintendent of Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC) effective February 9, 2015. He is responsible for the administration and management of all operations of JTDC, including custody, medical/mental health services, social services, fiscal services, maintenance services, human resources, labor relations and other services and has an operating budget of $53.3 million and a staff of over 700. Mr. Dixon’s career in Juvenile Justice is recognized nationally and he has been nationally recognized as an authority in delinquent residential care, case management and detention. He is also recognized, by the federal government as an expert in dealing with high profile incidents. He was a member of the Dade County Black Family Symposium Committee, Member of the American Correctional Association, Member of Teaching and Rehabilitations Youth (T.R.O.Y.), Boy Scouts of America, National Juvenile Detention Associations (NJDA), and the National Committee on Assessment of Minority Children. In addition Mr. Dixon was on the Board of Directors for Michigan Juvenile Detention Associations (MJDA). He has also served as chairman of the Critical Issues Committee and Present-Elect for the NJDA. Mr. Dixon was appointed by the President of the American Correctional Association (ACA) to serve on the Standards Committee and a member of the ACA Disproportionate Minority Confinement Taskforce. He has also testified before the United States Senate and house on Juvenile Justice issues. In addition to giving numerous speeches around the country on juvenile justice issues, he has presented at universities in Beijing and Shanghai, China. In February 2006, Mr. Dixon was featured in Ebony magazine as the President for the National Juvenile Detention Association.
Candice C. Jones
Candice C. Jones was appointed as the Director of the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice in 2014 to lead critical reforms to the state’s juvenile justice landscape – making communities safer by fostering better life outcomes for youth in custody. Ms. Jones has led efforts to right-size IDJJ by reducing the use of secure custody for low-risk youth and ensuring that high-risk youth who are placed in custody receive the services they need to successfully reenter their communities. Under her leadership, the population of IDJJ’s youth facilities has decreased by 36 percent, an all-time low. In 2015, Ms. Jones’ assembled a coalition of juvenile justice advocates to develop a legislative reform package that was later signed into law by Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner. The laws help IDJJ continue to right-size by: excluding youth convicted of misdemeanors from being sentenced to IDJJ; clarifying the length of community supervision; eliminating automatic transfers from juvenile court to adult court of 15-year-olds accused of certain crimes, and, prohibiting children under 13 from being held in county detention unless there is no viable community-based alternative. Ms. Jones’ career has been dedicated to public service, centering on transforming systems to improve the quality of life for at-risk youth. In 2012, she was named a White House Fellow. Her fellowship focused on developing a strategy for improving correctional education and reentry services for incarcerated youth and adults. Her work resulted in the Department of Education’s decision to issue a redetermination of Pell Grant eligibility for justice-involved youth and adults, marking a pivotal shift in making opportunities available for the formerly incarcerated. In addition, Ms. Jones drove juvenile justice strategy nationally as a Program Officer at the MacArthur Foundation. While at MacArthur, she led partnerships that enabled state and local institutions to create the methods and programs that juvenile justice professionals now look to as best practices in areas including; the development of graduated sanctions, use of risk assessment instruments and vocational programming.
Colleen Sheehan
Judge Colleen Sheehan was elected as a Cook County Circuit Court Judge in 2000. She is currently assigned to a large Juvenile Justice division calendar in Chicago. Judge Sheehan serves on the Illinois Supreme Court Juvenile Justice Committee and the Illinois Juvenile Justice Leadership Council. Recently Judge Sheehan was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Illinois Judicial College. She has developed many Restorative Justice programs including Bridging the Divide which helps facilitate safe and authentic communication with police and community. Currently, Judge Sheehan is developing an implementation plan for the creation of a Restorative Justice Community Court.
Anne M. Burke
Justice Anne M. Burke is a member of the Illinois Supreme Court’s First Judicial District. She was appointed to the Supreme Court on July 6, 2006 and was elected in 2008. Prior to joining the Supreme Court, Justice Burke was appointed to the Appellate Court in 1995 and was elected the following year to the Appellate bench where she served until July 5, 2006. Her judicial career began earlier, in 1987, with an appointment to the Illinois Court of Claims by Governor Jim Thompson. She was later reappointed by Governor Jim Edgar. Before serving on the Illinois Appellate Court, Justice Burke provided in-depth leadership in reshaping and improving the Illinois juvenile justice system. Governor Jim Edgar appointed her Special Counsel for Child Welfare Services, and made her a member of his Legislative Committee on Juvenile Justice. Prior to her judicial career, Justice Burke was a physical education teacher with the Chicago Park District where she worked with children with disabilities. Out of that experience, she went on to co-found the Chicago Special Olympics in 1968. She later served as a director of that organization as it grew to become the International Special Olympics represented in more than 170 countries. As a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Justice Burke is a frequent speaker and panelist before many civic and local Bar Associations. For more than two years, serving as Interim Chair, she directed the efforts of the National Review Board of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops investigating the causes and effects of the clerical sexual abuse scandal and helped to establish guidelines and policies for effectively responding to this scandal. She currently serves on the Executive Steering Committee of Kennedy Forum Illinois. Justice Burke is married to Chicago Alderman Edward M. Burke and they have five children, Edward Jr., Jennifer, the late Emmett, Sarah and Travis, and nine grandchildren.
