Community of Practice

The CoP consists of three county-level teams. Each team includes representatives from a variety of different domains: legal, educational, foster care, vocational/employment, independent living/community-based services, and mental health, as well as a social worker.

Select members of each team receive additional training in key principles of effective reentry work, including strength-based approaches and person-centered planning. These “Reentry Ambassadors” serve as critical resources on their county teams. Reentry Ambassadors include field practitioners as well as individuals with lived experience of system involvement. Together these CoP members with professional expertise, along with youth and family members who are “experts by experience” support the teams in implementing recommended best/promising practices at the local level.

Warren County Community of Practice

Contact: Amy Secor, Warren County Probation Department
secora@warrencountyny.gov

Warren County’s community of practice (CoP) is composed of a broad range of individual and organizational stakeholders including youth, parents, the Warren County Sheriff’s Department, Warren County Employment and Training, Warren County Public Defender's Office, Warren County Probation Department, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Southern Adirondacks, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Mediation Matters, Warren County Department of Social Services, Office of Community Services for Warren and Washington Counties, Northern Rivers, Peter Young Housing Industries and Treatment, Inc. Baywood, WAIT House, Community Work and Independence, and Glens Falls School District.

CoP members work together to cultivate meaningful conversations with individuals with lived experience of systems involvement, and use restorative, trauma-informed practices across partnering systems, to improve outcomes for youth and young adults involved in the criminal justice system. The CoP engages in its work through four subgroups: Stakeholder Agencies, Professional Reentry Ambassadors, the Parent Ambassador Coalition, and Youth Ambassadors. Major activities to date have included, training in restorative justice and community building, purposeful reentry planning for youth, incarcerated young adults, and youth in placement, and encouragement and empowerment of parent participation in the CoP.

The Warren County CoP is passionate, respectful and determined. Equal value is given to every voice and every voice is valued.

Warren County Resource Map

Amy Secor describes Warren County’s new resource map for youth and adults seeking housing, transportation, treatment and other services.

Visit Resource Map

Monroe County Community of Practice

Contact: Miranda DelVecchio, Monroe County Office of Probation Department
mirandadelvecchio@monroecounty.gov

Monroe County’s community of practice (CoP) includes a broad range of individual and organizational stakeholders including Monroe County Probation, Department of Family Assistance, Rochester City School District, Department of Human Services, OPWDD, Hillside, Office of Mental Health, the Center for Dispute Settlement, Person Centered Services, AutismUp, Legal Aid Society of Rochester, ACCES-VR, and NYSED.

The Monroe County CoP is developing and implementing a collaborative, cross-systems approach to serving justice-involved youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities, ages 14-24, and their families. The CoP’s cross-systems collaborative will regularly convene to address ongoing training, educational and service needs within the community and across the systems, as well as explore and make needed changes in policies and practices to support continued cross-systems collaboration and better outcomes for youth. The CoP is enhancing its understanding of, communication with, and effective service delivery to youth with disabilities, and to including the voices and perspectives of youth and families in reentry planning. CoP members are committed to utilizing the collective resources of their organizations and community partners, to address youths’ needs through culturally competent, trauma-informed approaches.

Tioga County Community of Practice

Contact: Melissa Watkins, Cornell Cooperative Extension Tioga County
mew235@cornell.edu

Tioga County’s community of practice (CoP), known as Youth Opportunity Now Tioga (Y-ON Tioga), is composed of a variety of individual and organizational stakeholders including youth, parents, community members, the Tioga Department of Social Services, Tioga County Probation, CASA-Trinity, Rural Health Network, SUNY Broome Community College, Tompkins Cortland Community College, Drug Court, WIOA Youth Employment, Tioga County Economic Development, Catholic Charities, 4-H Youth Development, and area school districts.

Y-ON Tioga members work together to assist at-risk youth with disabilities to grow through education, employment, and community connections. Using individualized, strength-based approaches, the CoP aims to empower justice-involved youth to set and reach goals with guidance and encouragement from caring individuals, service providers, and the larger community. The CoP aims to increase collaboration and availability of resources, provide more supports for in-school youth in preparation for transitioning to life after high school, and partnering with employers and community members to create more vocational opportunities for young people. Y-ON Tioga’s work is driven by a vision to help youth with disabilities realize their full potential in becoming involved citizens.