I’m checking in from sunny Austin, where the weather is in the 80’s and the sun is shining! What a nice change from my hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota (even though it was sunny there yesterday).
On November 9th, I presented at the 2nd annual “Strengthening Youth and Families: ideas, Tools and Practices for Sucess” put on by Texas Juvenile Probation, Youth Commission, Juvenile Crime Prevention, Health and Human Services and the Dept. of State Health. I was invited to come down here to talk specifically about working with girls, providing technical assistance through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). My presentation focused on issues related to Latina (Hispanic) girls in the US in order to provide more effective gender and culturally appropriate services. We specifically addressed girls’ psychosocial development issues (and why relationships are so important for girls), risk and protective factors for girls, providing gender and culturally appropriate services and recognizing barriers and strategies related to these girls and their families receiving appropriate services. I am on the list of approved consultants through OJJDP, which provides an opportunity for any state to receive technical assistance on a variety of topics, often paid for through funding from OJJDP. If you are interested in receiving technical assistance from OJJDP, you can check out the OJJDP web site for more information on how to apply for technical assistance: http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/
Sandi Lindgren