FREDERICK SAO CHIEF APPOINTED TO GOVERNOR’S JUVENILE GRANT PLANNING AND REVIEW COUNCIL

FREDERICK, MD – Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office Juvenile Division Chief Laura Wilt was appointed for three years to Governor Hogan’s Juvenile Grant Planning and Review Council. The Council is Maryland’s State Advisory Group to fulfill guidelines laid out in the Federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) of 1974. The Council falls under the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention (GOCCP).

 

State’s Attorney Charlie Smith commented, “our juvenile justice system plays an underappreciated and critical role in crime reduction and the public safety of our communities.  Funding is not only essential, but it is smart fiscal policy.  I can’t help but once again tout the leadership of this Office on important statewide issues, and congratulate Laura Wilt on her appointment by the Governor.”

 

Members of the Council must have training, experience, or special knowledge concerning adolescent development, the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency, the administration of juvenile justice, and the reduction of juvenile delinquency.  The Governor must appoint a minimum of 15 professionals to the Council, and a maximum of 33.

 

As part of the Council, Ms. Wilt will take on key objectives including work on aftercare and reentry, juvenile justice system improvement, delinquency prevention, and community-based programs and services. The focus will continue to be on community-based programs that prepare targeted youth to successfully return to their homes and communities after confinement in a training school, youth correctional facility, or other secure institution. These programs focus on preparing youth for release and providing a continuum of follow-up, post-placement services to promote successful reintegration into the community. The Council also addresses programs, research, or other initiatives to examine issues or improve practices, policies, or procedures on a system-wide basis (e.g. examining problems affecting decisions from arrest to disposition and detention to corrections). Delinquency prevention is targeted through programs that meet the needs of youth through collaboration of the many local systems before which a youth may appear, including schools, courts, law enforcement agencies, child protection agencies, mental health agencies, welfare services, health care agencies, and private nonprofit agencies offering youth services.

 

Laura Wilt

Juvenile Division Chief,

Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office