Our Juvenile Advisory Council had a meeting and a team building event last month and they continue to work on creating opportunities for youth in the juvenile justice system to be successful. We held our meeting at Five Senses Escape Room in Novi and hands down we all had a blast and competed against each other to solve the starships problems to survive in space. Everyone worked together and solved each problem and made it out alive!! Five Senses is highly recommended.
The Juvenile Advisory Council (JAC) is a youth engagement program that involves former youth with direct experience in juvenile justice system who have developed initiatives to improve the system for those who are currently in the system or may find themselves engaged in the future.
Members of the Juvenile Advisory Council created a handbook for youth and parents who are in the Wayne County Juvenile system or on the verge of entering it. This handbook can be found on the Growth Works Resource Page.
For more information about the JAC, please contact Sarah Parker at Sarah.Parker@gwcares.org.
Team members from Growth Works’ Case Management Organization, attended the mid-winter conference for the Juvenile Justice Association of Michigan (JJAM) in Midland Michigan. This session focused on working with traumatized youth, suicide prevention and secondary trauma from presenters from the area including Dr. James Henry. Thank you to our incredible team who is constantly working to provide support and resources that will benefit the youth in our care.
The Juvenile Justice Association of Michigan was formed in 1973 by the County Juvenile Officer’s Association and the Family Court Workers Association. JJAM is actively working to provide representation for all juvenile justice personnel, promoting and maintaining standards of efficiency within the Michigan Family Justice System and encouraging innovative legislation, resolutions and other desirable efforts representing the common interest of children and their families in the State of Michigan.
Michigan Association of Treatment Court Professionals’ (MATCP) 23rd Annual Conference in Grand Rapids Michigan was a great opportunity to collaborate with Treatment Court partners across the state of Michigan and share best practices. Growth Works had representation in two panel presentations, Peer Coaching as a Part of an Integrated Treatment Plan and Integrating Multiple Pathways to Recovery. These presentations were a great opportunity to share information regarding the Growth Works’ Peer Recovery Coaching model and how we partner with local Treatment Courts.
Growth Works is grateful for our partners at the 23rd District Court in Taylor, Families Against Narcotics HARM:LESS Program and Hegira Health for their collaboration in these important discussions.
The mission of the Michigan Association of Treatment Court Professionals (MATCP) is to provide leadership to treatment courts in the State of Michigan.
Growth Works would like to thank Shenandoah Chefalo for embarking on a journey of trauma-informed care with our team! We welcomed her to our All Staff meeting and learned about her history and her approach to building a trauma-informed community.
Shenandoah Chefalo, award-winning author, sought-after speaker, and trauma-informed coach and consultant who penned the book, “Garbage Bag Suitcase” about her young life in the foster care system, as well as an e-book entitled “Setting Your Vision and Defining Your Goals”. Her upcoming book “Hiking for Stillness” lays out a plan to overcome and address personal trauma by using and exploring the methods that she developed for herself.
She travels internationally helping transform organizations by teaching them how they can improve their workplace, performance, and overall enjoyment. Her tested and proven style of trauma-informed coaching includes a focus on resilience which she feels is a necessary skill for all to learn.
She is passionate about serving her clients, family, and community. She does so by helping organizations improve their workplaces and performance by teaching sustainable, trauma-informed methods, and by telling her story and educating the public about the grim realities of a life that she had always tried to hide.
Shenandoah experienced a dysfunctional childhood with neglectful, drug and alcohol addicted parents. This eventually landed her in the foster system where she endured numerous moves in the middle of the night with just minutes to pack, multiple changes in schools, hunger, cruelty, and loneliness.
To learn more about her story and how Shenandoah can serve your organization, you can visit https://www.chefaloconsulting.com/