Dunn County expands youth voice in juvenile system with $14,000 grant and new incentives

Carrie Nearing, one of Dunn County Human Services’ family and children services managers, told the Health and Human Services Board on Feb. 27 that the county has won a $14,000 Department of Children and Families grant to expand a Youth Leadership Team (YLT) that brings people with youth justice experience into system design.

The state-created YLT invites people aged roughly 14–21 with current or prior involvement in the youth justice system to advise on policy and programming. Nearing said the initiative prompted the state to shift from the term “juvenile justice” to “youth justice” after youth participants objected to the negative connotation of “juvenile.”

Nearing said the county’s youth justice workers have recruited from current caseloads and alumni of county services, offering participants a $100 gift card plus the $25 stipend the state still provides and meals. Laurie Radcliffe, another family and children services manager, said the first YLT meeting this year drew 11 youth — “a huge number for a small county.”

Radcliffe described staff plans to break large groups into two or three smaller discussion groups to make participants more comfortable speaking. The program will also add social-skills and “adulting” workshops, including banking basics, cooking classes and a community garden project in partnership with the University of Wisconsin–Extension, Radcliffe said. She said county youth justice staff include five front-line workers and one program aide who help recruit and transport young people to meetings.

Board members and citizen members asked about eligibility and parental consent. Nearing said participants must have had a delinquency order at some point, either currently or in the past; staff have been picking youth up after school to remove transportation barriers. Supervisor Kagan asked whether participants aged 18+ faced consent obstacles; staff said transportation was the main barrier and that workers’ outreach, including evening pickups, and the stipend reduced that barrier.

Board members highlighted an example of a youth who had been placed at a residential facility (Rawhide) and returned home with new skills, then participated as a YLT leader. Radcliffe credited continued contact by Rawhide staff and the county workers’ relationship-building for that young person’s progress.

The presenters said the grant is intended to increase youth participation in YLT statewide and to incorporate youth feedback into training for social workers and system changes. No formal board action on the program was recorded in the Feb. 27 transcript.

The board thanked staff for the work and described the program as a positive development for youth engagement in county services.